Articlenpj antimicrobials and resistance2025
The Parkinson's drug benztropine possesses histamine receptor 1-dependent host-directed antimicrobial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Article in npj antimicrobials and resistance, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Delayed-Type Hypersensitivity toInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Real-time bioluminescence imaging of mycobacteria with Akaluc: a novel method for monitoring drug efficacy.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- An exhaustive cell-based screen coupled with an intracellular-induced lux-based reporter identified bioactive molecules that inhibit host cell infection by intracellular pathogens.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Intracellular pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) evade host defence mechanisms to infect and survive within host cells. Host-directed therapy (HDT) offers a promising alternative to antibiotics and may overcome antimicrobial resistance. Using high-content screening, we identified benztropine (BZT), an approved Parkinson's disease drug, as a potent inhibitor of intracellular Mtb. BZT is active in both human and murine macrophages but is inactive in broth. In an aerosol Mtb mouse infection model, oral administration of BZT reduced the burden of Mtb in the lungs by up to 70%. BZT was also active against Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (STm) in an abscess model of infection, significantly reducing size and bacterial load. Chemical competition assays, CRISPR knockouts, and siRNA silencing assays revealed that BZT's activity against Mtb is mediated via macrophage histamine receptor 1 (HRH1). Our findings establish BZT as a promising repurposed candidate and a lead compound for developing HRH1-targeting antibacterial HDTs.
Identifiers
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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.