EPIs and Immunotherapy – An answer to drug-resistant tuberculosis

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB), primarily caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) remains one of the fatal contagious diseases accountable for millions of deaths yearly across the globe – droplet or aerosol being the mode of transmission. Apart from the peculiar microbial physiology and drug efflux pumps with drug modifying enzymes that make Mtb impervious to the existing drug regimen recommended by the WHO via DOTS, lack of social awareness and misuse or mismanagement of drugs make it even more deadlier transforming Mtb to MDR-TB & XDR-TB, thus increasing the number of TB cases globally per annum. Amidst the dire need to combat the rising cases of drug-resistant TB, this article discusses the potential use of phytochemical derived efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) and immunotherapy to fight TB with a brief insight into the molecular mechanism and structure of drug-efflux pumps found in Mtb. Keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, efflux pumps, DOTS, efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs), immunotherapy.