Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Bacteria
Why in the News?
- Due to increasing antimicrobial resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), many existing antibiotics are becoming less effective.
- As a result, researchers are studying Mtb to identify key proteins and design new drugs to target them.
What is Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)?
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What do various studies say?
- A 2024 CSIR-CCMB study showed that Mtb uses cysteine synthase enzymes to survive oxidative stress.
- A 2017 Karolinska Institute study identified 71 compounds that inhibit these enzymes, improving the effectiveness of antibiotics like isoniazid.
- Researchers found that Mtb’s ability to evade the immune system is due to its long evolution with humans.
- Other studies focus on Mtb’s phosphate and carbon metabolism, critical for its survival in hostile environments.
- Ways for effective medicine development:
- Target enzymes like CysK2 and CysM to weaken Mtb’s defence mechanisms.
- Study Mtb’s metabolic pathways to identify vulnerabilities for new drug development.
- Explore how Mtb develops antibiotic resistance and find ways to overcome it.
- Investigate how Mtb evades immune responses by manipulating immune cells.
- Combine new inhibitors with existing antibiotics to enhance treatment efficacy.
PYQ:[2014] Can overuse and free availability of antibiotics without Doctor’s prescription, be contributors to the emergence of drug-resistant diseases in India? What are the available mechanisms for monitoring and control? Critically discuss the various issues involved. |
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