Challenges and Opportunities of Nanotechnological based Approach for the Treatment of Tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, because of its unique biochemical behavior and a complex host relationship, successfully evades the host immune system. Therefore, chemotherapy appears to be the first-line option for patients with tuberculosis. However, poor patient compliance with anti-tubercular treatment and variability in anti-tubercular drug pharmacokinetics are among the major driving factors for the emergence of drug resistance. The rising cases of extrapulmonary TB, cross-resistance patterns, high prevalence of tuberculosis and HIV co-infections make tuberculosis treatment more complicated than conventional multidrug therapy. Due to their distinct advantages like higher solubility, increased payload, controlled release profiles, tissue-specific accumulation, and lack of toxicity, nanoscale materials have immense potential for drug delivery applications. An appropriate selection of polymer and careful particle engineering further improves therapeutic outcomes with opportunities to overcome conventional anti-tubercular drugs' challenges. The present review introduces the prospect of using nanotechnology in tuberculosis (TB) chemotherapy and provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in nanocarriers implied for delivering anti-tubercular drugs.