ArticlePerspectives in clinical research
N-acetylcysteine as an add-on to Directly Observed Therapy Short-I therapy in fresh pulmonary tuberculosis patients: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded study.
Article in Perspectives in clinical research. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07058090 (Comparison of the Outcome of Treatment With Silymarin or N-Aceylcysteine in Patients Taking Anti-Tuberculous Drugs for Tuberculosis at a Tertiary Care Hospital , Karachi), which is not on this map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Comparison of the Outcome of Treatment With Silymarin or N-Aceylcysteine in Patients Taking Anti-Tuberculous Drugs for Tuberculosis at a Tertiary Care Hospital , Karachi
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effects of anti-inflammatory agents as host-directed adjunct treatment of tuberculosis in humans: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Respiratory research · 2020Pooled it
- Adjunct N-Acetylcysteine Treatment in Hospitalized Patients With HIV-Associated Tuberculosis Dampens the Oxidative Stress in Peripheral Blood: Results From the RIPENACTB Study Trial.Frontiers in immunology · 2020Trial
- Trial
- N-acetylcysteine: evidence based consensus document on the therapeutic advantages in respiratory diseases (NECTAR).Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Recent progress in understanding ferroptosis mechanisms in infectious diseases.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- Host-directed nanotherapy for the treatment and imaging of tuberculous meningitis.Theranostics · 2026Article
- N-Acetylcysteine to Reduce Kidney and Liver Injury Associated with Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment.Pharmaceutics · 2025Article
- Review
- The promises and limitations ofAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2023Article
- Impact ofAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Moxifloxacin-Mediated Killing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Involves Respiratory Downshift, Reductive Stress, and Accumulation of Reactive Oxygen Species.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2022Article
- Fluoroquinolone heteroresistance, antimicrobial tolerance, and lethality enhancement.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Review
- Host-directed therapies in pulmonary tuberculosis: Updates on anti-inflammatory drugs.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Review
- The Role of NRF2 in Mycobacterial Infection.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Review
- The Interplay Between Systemic Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, and Tissue Remodeling in Tuberculosis.Antioxidants & redox signaling · 2021Review
- Understanding the Reciprocal Interplay Between Antibiotics and Host Immune System: How Can We Improve the Anti-Mycobacterial Activity of Current Drugs to Better Control Tuberculosis?Frontiers in immunology · 2021Review
- N-Acetylcysteine: A Review of Clinical Usefulness (an Old Drug with New Tricks).Journal of nutrition and metabolism · 2021Review
- Emerging Role for Ferroptosis in Infectious Diseases.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2021Review
- Targeting Molecular Inflammatory Pathways in Granuloma as Host-Directed Therapies for Tuberculosis.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposePulmonary tuberculosis is associated with increased oxidative stress, enhanced lipid peroxidation, and decreased glutathione (GSH) levels. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) effectively increases GSH levels, improves lipid peroxidation, and decreases reactive oxygen species levels as reported by earlier studies. Hence, we planned to clinically evaluate the effect of NAC as add-on to Directly Observed Therapy Short-I (DOTS-I) regimen on treatment outcome in PTB with the objectives to study the effect of NAC as an add-on to intensive phase of DOTS-I (2 months) on sputum conversion, radiological improvement, GSH peroxidase (GPx) level, and weight and immunological response compared to placebo add-on at the end of 2 and 6 months. MATERIALS AND
methodsThis was a design-prospective, randomized, parallel group, add-on design, placebo-controlled, double-blinded, 24-week study. Parameters studied were sputum acid-fast bacillus examination, radiological improvements, GPx level, weight, and Mantoux response. NAC/placebo was added to DOTS Category I in intensive phase.
resultsTotally 48 patients completed the study. In NAC group, 23 patients achieved sputum negativity in 3 weeks while 14 patients in PLACEBO group. There was a significant clearing of infiltration and reduction in cavity size in NAC group compared to placebo at 2 months. At 2 and 6 months, NAC significantly raised GPx level and body weight. In 2 months, the patients with Mix ≤5 became Mx positive (100%) in NAC group while none in placebo group.
conclusionNAC addition to DOTS-I significantly brings about faster sputum negativity, improves radiological response, weight, raises serum GPx level, and rectifies the deregulated immune response. Thus, NAC may be a useful adjuvant to DOTS in PTB.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.