Nanoemulsion for the Effective Treatment and Management of Anti-tubercular Drug Therapy

Background: Tuberculosis is considered as one of the deadliest diseases of human existence. Since ancient age the treatment of tuberculosis has been highly challenging primarily owing to the pathogenic nature of the Mycobacterium and its diverse spots of localization in human body including lungs, liver, spleen, eye, meninges and lymph nodes. Methods: The conventional drug therapy employed for the treatment of tuberculosis is not highly satisfactorily owing to low oral bioavailability of the drugs. The evolution of nano-technology recently in few decades has completely revolutionized the treatment of diverse diseases and so is the tuberculosis. Nanotechnology not only possesses enormous potential for improving the biopharmaceutical performance, but also allows the delivery of therapeutic molecules to the desired site of action. Diverse types of nanocarriers have been employed for the treatment of tuberculosis infections. In this regard, nanoemulsions are considered as one of the promising alternatives for augmenting the bioavailability of the antitubercular drugs through oral route for improving their therapeutic efficacy. Conclusion: The nanoemulsion loaded with antitubercular drugs can easily cross the biological barriers to reach the systemic circulation and consequently in the target for reducing the load of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Besides, the lipidic nature of such systems facilitates targeting of the drugs to the lymph nodes, thus improves drug bioavailability and reduction of the dosing frequency. In lieu of this, the present article compiles the basics of nanoemulsions in brief along with an updated account on their applications in delivering antitubercular drugs for enhanced immunization. Moreover, overview of patent literature published in this area has also been included in the manuscript.