Elena Portell Buj, curso 2014-2015

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most life-threatening infectious diseases caused by a single ethiological agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) or extremely drug resistant (XDR) TB is of great concern for the control of the disease. M. tuberculosis becomes latent and phenotypically drug-resistant when it encounters adverse conditions within the host. The inability of currently available drugs to kill latent M. tuberculosis is a major impediment to curing and possibly eradicating TB. Novel anti-TB drugs and anti-TB drugs combinations are urgently required which shorten the lengthy drug regimen required to treat TB and also have activity against M. tuberculosis in a latent state. It is necessary to test anti-TB drugs that can eradicate latent M. tuberculosis. However, little is known about the state of M. tuberculosis during latency and about the intermidate stages before shifting to latent M. tuberculosis.

There are latent in vitro models, such as hypoxia, nutrient deprivation and multiple stresses that are based on adverse conditions encountered by M. tuberculosis during infection. The nutrient deprivation model is based on deficit of total nutrients from a culture medium. It seems that new and old anti-TB drugs may have the potential to be used as potent drugs against latent TB. To explore this possibility the present study was planned with an aim to study the activity of anti-TB drugs against latent nutrient-deprived M. tuberculosis.