MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY AND DEVELOPMENT OF ANTITUBERCULAR DRUGS

Tuberculosis (TB) is an ancient disease that has caused inestimable suffering and claimed millions of lives over the centuries. Resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have slowly emerged especially in developing countries due to the lack of health care organisation in order to provide the long and costly treatment adapted to patients. In fact, 90% of all TB cases occur in the developing world. People with HIV/AIDS are especially susceptible to tuberculosis due to lack of immune system. Tuberculosis has been treated with combination therapy for over fifty years. Drugs are not used singly (except in latent TB or chemoprophylaxis), and regimens that use only single drug result in the rapid development of resistance and treatment failure.