Tuberculosis and Nanotechnology: Where shall the Twain meet?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Tuberculosis remains among the commonest infectious diseases in the developing world and is a major source of morbidity and mortality. Conventional treatments typically consist of long-term therapy with multiple drugs which often leads to poor patient compliance as well as adverse effects. Poor compliance is in turn a major cause for the development of multidrug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis for which there are few treatment options. Therefore, there is an urgent need for improved and more effective therapies. There are very few new drugs for tuberculosis in the pipeline, and a major current area of research is development of novel formulations. Another key aspect is to prevent the spread of the disease by developing rapid diagnostic methods. Here, we describe advances in nanotechnology for improving the pharmacological profile of antitubercular drugs (substantial work in our institution) and microtechnology diagnostics for tuberculosis (TB). How to cite this article Shafiq N, Kondel R, Malhotra S. Tuberculosis and Nanotechnology: Where shall the Twain meet? J Postgrad Med Edu Res 2013;47(4):188-192.