Nanocarriers as Promising Drug Vehicles for the Management of Tuberculosis

摘要

Nanoscience is emerging as a new era of technology advancement which has promoted our ability to understand scientific developments at nanoscale. The nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems have been implicated in the treatment of a variety of diseases especially the ones caused by intracellular pathogens. Therapeutic failures and antibiotic resistance developed by the notorious pathogenic bacteria like Mycobacterium tuberculosis have prompted researchers to develop novel ways to counter drug resistance, to shorten the treatment duration, and more importantly to reduce drug interactions with antiretroviral therapies. The pharmaceutical technologists of today are focusing more on improving the effectiveness of the drug by specifically targeting the sources and reservoirs of infections. The nanotechnology has the potential to develop more effective and compliant medicines. Current review discusses about various challenges faced in the development of effective nano-based tuberculosis therapies and overviews various state-of-art technologies being developed interms of nano-based drug delivery systems for encapsulation and sustained release of antituberculosis drugs.