High prevalence of bedaquiline resistance in treatment-naive tuberculosis patients and verapamil effectiveness

Abstract

In the regions where bedaquiline (BDQ) is introduced into the regimen, analysis of MIC and screening for preexisting resistance mutations could be crucial. The high prevalence of isolates with high BDQ MICs without prior exposure to BDQ was worrisome. It was also concluded that efflux pumps play a pivotal role in intrinsic BDQ resistance; therefore, the potential of verapamil as an adjunctive therapy to combat BDQ resistance should be investigated.