Resistance and tolerance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to antimicrobial agents—How M. tuberculosis can escape antibiotics

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) poses a serious threat to public health worldwide since it was discovered. Until now, TB has been one of the top 10 causes of death from a single infectious disease globally. The treatment of active TB cases majorly relies on various anti‐tuberculosis drugs. However, under the selection pressure by drugs, the continuous evolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb ) facilitates the emergence of drug‐resistant strains, further resulting in the accumulation of tubercle bacilli with multiple drug resistance, especially deadly multidrug‐resistant TB and extensively drug‐resistant TB. Researches on the mechanism of drug action and drug resistance of Mtb provide a new scheme for clinical management of TB patients, and prevention of drug resistance. In this review, we summarized the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance of existing anti‐TB drugs to better understand the evolution of drug resistance of Mtb , which will provide more effective strategies against drug‐resistant TB, and accelerate the achievement of the EndTB Strategy by 2035. This article is categorized under: Infectious Diseases > Molecular and Cellular Physiology