Second-line drugs for tuberculosis (TB) are medications used when first-line drugs are ineffective due to drug resistance or when a patient cannot tolerate first-line medications. These drugs are generally less effective and have more side effects than first-line agents.
Here is a list of common oral second-line TB drugs:
- Cycloserine: An antibiotic that inhibits cell wall synthesis.
- Ethionamide: A structural analogue of isoniazid that inhibits mycolic acid synthesis.
- Levofloxacin: A fluoroquinolone antibiotic that inhibits DNA gyrase, crucial for bacterial DNA replication.
- Linezolid: An oxazolidinone antibiotic that inhibits bacterial protein synthesis.
- Moxifloxacin: Another fluoroquinolone, similar in action to levofloxacin.
- Para-aminosalicylate (PAS): An older drug that inhibits folate synthesis.
- Pretomanid: A nitroimidazooxazole drug approved for use in specific multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) regimens.
It's important to note that the specific combination and duration of treatment with second-line drugs depend on the individual patient's drug susceptibility profile, the severity of the disease, and the presence of any underlying health conditions. Treatment regimens are typically complex and managed by specialists in infectious diseases or pulmonary medicine.
