The role of biotin in bacterial physiology and virulence: A novel antibiotic target for Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a global pandemic that ranks alongside HIV-AIDS and malaria as the leading cause of death by infectious disease, with the highest incidence rates observed in Southeast Asian, African, and Western Pacific countries ( 1 ). In 1993 the WHO declared TB to be a global health emergency and set the Millennium Development Goal of reducing the prevalence and mortality rates to 50% of those observed in 1990 by the 2015 deadline ( 2 ). Although the rates of new TB cases and mortality have declined over the past decade and are within reach of the 2015 target, the number of TB patients and the prevalence of drug-resistant strains are rising ( 3 ). Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) must be addressed now as a public health crisis to achieve the ambitious Millennium Development Goal target of complete elimination of TB as a public health concern by 2050 ( 4 ).