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Essay / New strategies to improve the treatment of tuberculosis
Initial protection against tuberculosis is provided by the BCG vaccine administered at birth. This vaccine is expected to last up to 15 years. Even with the availability of this vaccine, tuberculosis remains a more devastating disease than ever. While it only takes one or two weeks of monotherapy to cure most bacterial infections, to successfully treat tuberculosis requires at least 6 months using a wide range of antibiotics to control susceptible uncomplicated tuberculosis. to medications, with a cure rate of 90%. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'? Get the original essay Since 1994, the same four drugs (isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol) have been used as the first step in the treatment of tuberculosis . However, factors such as prolonged treatment duration and patient non-compliance have led to the emergence of drug-resistant strains of TB, such as XDR TB, which, at the very least, are resistant isoniazid and rifampicin. This multi-resistant strain requires at least 20 months of treatment using toxic drugs and the cure rate is reduced by 60 to 75%. In the 1990s, research into the development of anti-tuberculosis drugs stopped. The first line of drugs demonstrating the ability to cure tuberculosis and the fact that most new cases are detected outside developed countries have led to a decline in the overall incentive to invest in the development of new anti-tuberculosis drugs. Tuberculosis resistance has focused attention on previously overlooked strategies to improve tuberculosis treatment. One reason mycobacteria have strangely high antimicrobial resistance may be due to the unique complexity of their cell wall. It contains a complex network of macromolecules including mycolic acid (MAgP complex) which allows Mycobacterium tuberculosis to be insensitive to techniques such as Gram staining. this, along with arabinogalactan, peptidoglycan, and various other proteins and polysaccharides, combine to form the main structure of the mycobacterial cell wall. Forming an incredibly high barrier for antimicrobial agents to overcome. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent a novel treatment strategy against tuberculosis that can overcome cell wall protection. One of the main mechanisms of AMP interactions is their ability to completely disrupt the cell membrane or create transient pores. The first step in the interaction between AMPs and the bacterial cell is the mediation of their positive charge to bind to the negatively charged prokaryotic cell surface. The bond between the cationic residues of AMP and the cell's anionic cell surface encourages the membrane to become more permeable. This allows many AMPs to exert a killing mechanism via cell membrane disruption. Despite the direct killing mechanism exerted by antimicrobial peptides, as well as their immunomodulatory properties, AMPs still face major challenges when it comes to joining the pharmaceutical industry. Some major disadvantages of using AMPs in anti-TB strategies include high synthetic cost, low stability in human biological fluids, and the potential for tumorigenesis and angiogenesis as side effects when administered at high concentrations. high. However, the long list of benefits of this type of therapy, including.