Current Overview of Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs: Metabolism and Toxicities

Tuberculosis, a global public health epidemic, is one of the leading causes of death by an infectious disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one third of the world’s population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb), 5-10% of whom will possibly go on to develop active disease. Tuberculosis (TB) is an epidemic especially in poor countries, and each year the disease kills approximately 1.7 million people worldwide. The Mycobacterium family has over 60 species but only a few of them can cause diseases in humans, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium leprae, Mycobacterium africanum and Mycobacterium avium. MTb can exist in the latent state, where it resides in the human body for an extended period of time without showing any clinical symptoms. Once the host’s immune system becomes weakened, whether by age or concomitant disease, the bacteria attains virulent or active form. With the increasing incidence of HIV infection, tuberculosis has reemerged as an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.