Understanding Tuberculosis : New Approaches to Fighting Against Drug Resistance

Abstract

In 1957, a Streptomyces strain, the ME/83 (S.mediterranei), was isolated in the Lepetit Research Laboratories from a soil sample collected at a pine arboretum near Saint Raphael, France. This drug was the base for the chemotherapy with Streptomicine. The euphoria generated by the success of this regimen lead to the idea that TB eradication would be possible by the year 2000. Thus, any further drug development against TB was stopped. Unfortunately, the lack of an accurate administration of these drugs originated the irruption of the drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Once the global emergency was declared in 1993, seeking out new drugs became urgent. In this book, diverse authors focus on the development and the activity of the new drug families.