Current approaches and future directions in the treatment of leprosy

• Main Author: Worobec SM
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2012-08-01
• Series: Research and Reports in Tropical Medicine
• Online Access: http://www.dovepress.com/current-approaches-and-future-directions-in-the-treatment-of-leprosy-a10601

Sophie M WorobecDepartment of Dermatology, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USAAbstract: This review surveys current treatments and future treatment trends in leprosy from a clinical perspective. The World Health Organization provides a multidrug treatment regimen that targets the Mycobacterium leprae bacillus which causes leprosy. Several investigational drugs are available for the treatment of drug-resistant M. leprae. Future directions in leprosy treatment will focus on: the molecular signaling mechanism M. leprae uses to avoid triggering an immune response; prospective studies of the side effects experienced during multiple-drug therapy; recognition of relapse rates post-completion of designated treatments; combating multidrug resistance; vaccine development; development of new diagnostic tests; and the implications of the recent discovery of a genetically distinct leprosy-causing bacillus, Mycobacterium lepromatosis.Keywords: epidemiology, leprosy, Hansen’s disease, multidrug resistance, multidrug therapy