Bioengineering of Inorganic Nanoparticle Using Plant Materials to Fight Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

This chapter describes the benefits of inorganic nanoparticles synthesized from medicinal plants instead of conventional physical and chemical methods. Treatment for extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) has always been a challenge, as many patients fail to complete treatment requiring four to five active drugs over a 24-month period. Failure to identify new antimicrobials is of major concern due to an increase in antimicrobial resistance to antimicrobial drugs. South Africa has one of the highest burdens of tuberculosis and drug-resistant tuberculosis in the world, whereby resistant TB strains occur through transmission rather than acquired resistance to new hosts. Nanotechnology may be used to address various current limitations of TB treatment. The toxicity of the chemical reagents used in the manufacture of inorganic nanoparticles has led to the development of green technologies to address this problem. Flavonoids contain various functional groups capable of nanoparticle formation.