"So, we predicted that if we added isoniazid and cysteine to isoniazid-sensitive M. tuberculosis in culture, the bacteria would develop resistance. Instead, we ended up killing off the culture something totally unexpected."
"To test this hypothesis, we repeated the experiment using isoniazid and a different reducing agent vitamin C," said Dr. Jacobs. "The combination of isoniazid and vitamin C sterilized the M. tuberculosis culture. We were then amazed to discover that vitamin C by itself not only sterilized the drug-susceptible TB, but also sterilized MDR-TB and XDR-TB strains."
"We don't know whether vitamin C will work in humans, but we now have a rational basis for doing a clinical trial," said Dr. Jacobs. "It also helps that we know vitamin C is inexpensive, widely available and very safe to use. At the very least, this work shows us a new mechanism that we can exploit to attack TB.".....
Ref : http://www.einstein.yu.edu/news/releases/907/study-finds-vitamin-c-can-kill-drug-resistant-tb/
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is extraordinarily sensitive to killing by a vitamin C-induced Fenton reaction : Nature Communications : Nature Publishing Group