Antimicrobial peptides for tuberculosis in a post-antibiotic era: from in vitro promise to therapeutic potential
npj Antimicrobials and Resistance·
- DOI
- 10.1038/s44259-026-00238-z
- PMID
- —
- PMCID
- —
- OpenAlex
- W7203664749
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The findings are relevant to addressing the global burden of drug-resistant tuberculosis and the need for shorter, more effective treatment regimens.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
This review evaluates antimicrobial peptides as alternative therapeutic candidates for tuberculosis, assessing their structural determinants, mechanisms of action, synergistic potential with conventional agents, and strategies for rational design and optimization.
Study design
This is a systematic review that curated and analyzed 22 antimicrobial peptide candidates from the APD6 database alongside additional literature reports, evaluating structural, physicochemical, mechanistic, and synergistic properties.
Population and setting
The review addresses tuberculosis, identified as the leading cause of death from a single infectious pathogen, with treatment challenges stemming from prolonged regimens and escalating drug resistance.
Main findings
The review identifies antimicrobial peptides as a promising therapeutic class with diverse mechanisms and limited potential for resistance emergence, analyzing structural determinants and mechanistic evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies, including synergy with conventional agents.
Public-health relevance
The findings are relevant to addressing the global burden of drug-resistant tuberculosis and the need for shorter, more effective treatment regimens.
Important limitations
This summary is limited to the supplied single-article abstract/metadata and requires the original paper for decision-grade interpretation. The review discusses translational barriers but does not detail specific study limitations in the available abstract.
GIDS interpretation
This review article discusses the therapeutic potential of a novel drug class for tuberculosis and may be relevant for signal context if drug-resistant tuberculosis is under surveillance; however, it represents early-stage research findings without clinical outcome data.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 5 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.