Recent Progress and Challenges for Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment

• Main Authors: Filia Stephanie (Author), Mutiara Saragih (Author), Usman Sumo Friend Tambunan (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2021-04-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13050592; 1999-4923
• Keywords: tuberculosis; drug-resistance; drug discovery and development; host-directed therapy; Pharmacy and materia medica; RS1-441
• Source: Pharmaceutics, Vol 13, Iss 5, p 592 (2021)

Control of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> infection continues to be an issue, particularly in countries with a high tuberculosis (TB) burden in the tropical and sub-tropical regions. The effort to reduce the catastrophic cost of TB with the WHO's End TB Strategy in 2035 is still obstructed by the emergence of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) cases as result of various mutations of the MTB strain. In the approach to combat DR-TB, several potential antitubercular agents were discovered as inhibitors for various existing and novel targets. Host-directed therapy and immunotherapy also gained attention as the drug-susceptibility level of the pathogen can be reduced due to the pathogen's evolutionary dynamics. This review is focused on the current progress and challenges in DR-TB treatment. We briefly summarized antitubercular compounds that are under development and trials for both DR-TB drug candidates and host-directed therapy. We also highlighted several problems in DR-TB diagnosis, the treatment regimen, and drug discovery that have an impact on treatment adherence and treatment failure.