Tuberculosis (TB) has increasingly become a global public health
problem, as the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that
there are 9.4 million new tuberculosis cases and 1.7 million deaths
annually.
1 While only few first-line drugs for the treatment of
tuberculosis are available (isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, and streptomycin), a number of multi- and extensivelydrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-MTB and XDR-MTB) strains have
gradually emerged. The treatment for tuberculosis requires longterm antibiotic therapy (up to 6–12 months), consequently, there have been a number of patient non-compliance with the full therapeutic regimen, leading to an increasing emergence of MDR-MTB
strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
2
MDR-MTB strains are commonly resistant to the two most important first-line drugs used
in the treatment of TB, isoniazid and rifampin.
3
TheMDR-MTB cases
contribute to an increase in deaths fromTB and are often associated
with HIV infection; WHO estimated that 1.1–1.2 million (11–13%)
TB patients suffer fromHIV co-infection.
1
The increasing emergence
ofMDR-MTB strains and an epidemiological co-existence of TBwith
HIV/AIDS underscore the fundamental requirement for new, more
effective drugs for the treatment of TB