Progress on diagnosis and treatment of central nervous system tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health issue in developing countries. Among all varieties of TB, central nervous system tuberculosis (CNS-TB) is the most life-threatening, and causes high mortality and morbidity even with appropriate anti-TB therapy. The key to avoid devastating outcomes is early and prompt diagnosis and treatment. Hence, insights into the characteristics and clinical presentations are desperately needed. Traditional diagnostic techniques, however, are time-consuming and insensitive. Newly-developing nanotechnology and nanomaterials have already been applied in the detection of causative agents and delivery of anti-TB drugs. In this review, we summarize the typical clinical presentations and signs of CNS-TB, analyze the pros and cons of routine laboratory diagnostic techniques, introduce the current treatment therapies and update on the progress on development and application of nano-scale biosensors and drug delivery systems for CNS-TB.