AIIMS Study Finds Indian Herbal Compound Effective Against Drug-Resistant TB

Researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi have published a groundbreaking study showing that a compound derived from the Ashwagandha plant significantly enhances the effectiveness of existing tuberculosis drugs against multi-drug-resistant TB strains. The study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, involved 380 patients across four AIIMS centres over a two-year period.

Study Findings

Patients who received the Ashwagandha-derived compound (Withaferin A) alongside standard MDR-TB treatment showed a 73% sputum conversion rate at 4 months, compared to 41% in the control group receiving standard treatment alone. The compound appears to work by disrupting the bacterial cell wall's resistance mechanisms, making the TB bacteria susceptible to drugs they had previously resisted.

Side effects were minimal, with the most common being mild gastrointestinal discomfort in 12% of patients — significantly lower than the side effect profile of existing MDR-TB drugs. The treatment cost is estimated at Rs 50 per day, making it potentially transformative for resource-limited settings where drug-resistant TB is most prevalent.

"India carries 27% of the world's MDR-TB burden. A treatment that costs Rs 50 per day and improves cure rates by 32 percentage points could save hundreds of thousands of lives annually," said the study's lead author, Dr. Rakesh Kumar of AIIMS Pulmonology Department.

The WHO has taken note of the study and is planning to include the compound in its upcoming MDR-TB treatment guidelines review. The Indian Council of Medical Research has fast-tracked Phase 3 trials across 20 government hospitals, with results expected by early 2027. If confirmed, this would be the first major TB treatment innovation to originate from traditional Indian medicine research.