Advancements and challenges in tuberculosis drug discovery: A comprehensive overview.

Tuberculosis continues to pose a health challenge causing the loss of millions of lives despite the existence of multiple drugs, for treatment. The emergence of drug-resistant strains has made the situation more complex making it increasingly difficult to fight against this disease. This review outlines the challenges associated with TB drug discovery, the nature of Mycobacterium tuberculosis shedding light on the mechanisms that lead to treatment failure and antibiotic resistance. We explore promising drug targets, encompassing inhibition of mycolyarabinogalactan peptidoglycan (MAGP) assembly, mycolic acid biosynthesis, DNA replication, transcription, translation, protein synthesis, and bioenergetics/metabolism pathways. A comprehensive overview of the global pipeline of anti-tuberculosis drugs at various stages of clinical trials, the diverse strategies being pursued to tackle this complex disease. By gaining an understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to resistance development and identifying suitable targets, we can pave the way for more effective treatments and contribute to global efforts to combat drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Nitin Pal Kalia reports financial support was provided by India Ministry of Science & Technology Department of Biotechnology. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)