Electrochemical cytochrome P450 enzymatic biosensors for the determination of the reactivity of TB drugs

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global epidemic despite the fact that treatment has been available since the 1950’s. This disease is highly contagious and spreads via transmission of the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTB) tubercle via coughing, sneezing and spitting. The disease has various side effects including weight loss, fatigue and even death. To date no cure has been found for TB and thus optimisation of treatment is a constant focus in health related research. TB is highly prevalent in South Africa due to the increased level of patients who are co-infected with HIV. Treatment for TB consists of first line drugs including isoniazid (INH), ethambutol (ETH), pyrazinamide (PYR) and rifampicin (RIF). These drugs are highly effective but also produce many adverse drug reactions (ADR’s) over the 6-month course of treatment. These reactions lead to patients not completing the course, losing quality of life and ultimately adding to the development of drug resistant strains of TB. A method of minimising these ADR’s is the development of a phenotype sensor, which is able to determine the metabolic profile of patients. Metabolic profiles play a huge role in the efficacy of treatment by tailoring treatment in order for patients to stay within the therapeutic range of treatment. This would in turn minimise both toxicity and ineffective treatment. Various methods for the quantification of drugs have been developed such as high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), mass spectrometry (MS) and ultra-violet visible spectroscopy (UV-vis).