Antitubercular Drugs Development: Recent Advances in Selected Therapeutic Targets and Rational Drug Design

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), is a remarkably successful pathogen that has latently infected a third of the world population (Zhang et al., 2006). Infection occurs via aerosol, and inhalation of a few droplets containing M. tuberculosis bacilli is enough for lung infection (Hassan et al., 2006). After infection, M. tuberculosis pathogenesis occurs in two stages. The first is an asymptomatic state that can persist for many years in the host, called latent TB. The second stage requires only a weakened immune response to become activated (Zhang, 2004), then the bacteria begins replicating and causing characteristic symptoms such as cough, chest pain, fatigue and unexplained weight loss. If left untreated, the disease eventually culminates in death. The emergence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the resultant Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) pandemic underlined the importance of reactivation of the disease and its potentially catastrophic outcome since over 50% of deaths among HIVinfected patients results from co-infection with M. tuberculosis with the two pathogens inducing each other’s replication, thus accelerating the collapse of the immune system (Cole & Alzari, 2007). While it is impossible to determine the exact number of cases, the latest World Health Organization (WHO) survey estimates that close to 2 million deaths occur every year, that there are approximately 8 million new cases annually, and that every third individual on the planet has been exposed to or infected by M. tuberculosis (Dye, 2006; Cole & Alzari, 2007). Although TB can be treated and even cured with chemotherapy, treatment is exceedingly lengthy and takes 6-9 months (Blumberg, et al., 2003). In addition to significant toxicity, lengthy therapy also causes poor patient compliance, which is a frequent cause for selection of drug resistant and often deadly multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) bacteria (Zang et al., 2006). Currently, TB chemotherapy is made up of a cocktail of first-line drugs, isoniazid (INH), Rifampicin (RIF), pyrazinamide (PZA) and ethambutol (EMB), which are given for six