Challenges and opportunities of nanotechnological based approach for the treatment of tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, because of its unique biochemical behavior and a complex host rela-tionship, 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 varia-bility 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-spe-cific accumulation, and lack of toxicity, nanoscale materials have immense potential for drug delivery applica-tions. 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 intro-duces 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.