Application of Nanomedicine Technology for treatment of Tuberculosis: An overview

Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB), the second most serious infectious disease after AIDS that not only attacks lungs, but also spine and brain. TB is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.  Worldwide, 2 billion people are diagnosed with TB and approximately 2 million patients die from it. Traditionally long-term therapy involving various medications is used to cure TB, leading to several adverse effects, poor compliance to patient and drug resistance. The pathogens of TB located in the intracellular section of the cells, which eventually results in further impediment to effective treatment. Therefore, better and more efficient therapies for such diseases are required.       

Methods: The prospects of Nanomedicine (NM) for successful TB treatment are discussed in this review article. To fulfill the purpose, we searched various indexed literature using systematic and organized criteria. Standard criteria were used to assess the accuracy and characteristics of selected papers.

Results: For chronic infectious diseases like TB, nanoparticles (NP)-based technology has shown successful therapy and positive results. Nanocarriers such as NP, liposomes, niosomes, and microspheres give the ability to   develop noval therapeutic and diagnostic strategies due to their specific size-dependent properties. In addition to the advantage of providing control release of medications, the other advantages of the nanocarriers  comprises the possibility of using different routes of administration, decrease in drug dosage and side effects, reduced chances of drug incompatibility, and effective drug-resistant (DR) treatment. . According to available literature and proprietary studies, NM drug delivery can enhance TB chemotherapy providing benefits such as targeted drug delivery to a particular organ as well as sustained and controlled drug release.

Conclusion: The application of NM mediated technologies could aid in developing improved, efficacious or alternative chemotherapies for TB diseases.