Finding the gene responsible for activating pyrazinamide opens the door to rapid testing for drug resistance (pages 662–667).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Mitchison, D.A. The Garrod Lecture. Understanding the chemotherapy of tuberculosis — current problems. J. Antimicrob. Chemo. 29, 477–493 (1992).
McDermott, W. & Tompsett, R. Activation of pyrazinamide and nicotinamide in acidic environments in vitro. Am. Rev. Tuberc. 70, 748–754 (1954).
McCune, R.M., Tompsett, R. & McDermott, W. The fate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in mouse tissues as determined by the microbial enumeration technique. J. Exp. Med. 104, 763–803 (1956).
Mitchison, D.A. The action of antituberculosis drugs in short-course chemotherapy. Tubercle 66, 219–225 (1985).
Konno, K., Feldmann, F.M. & McDermott, W. Pyrazinamide susceptibility and amidase activity of tubercle bacilli. Am. Rev. Respir. Dis. 95, 461–469 (1967).
Cynamon, M.H. et al. Pyrazinoic acid esters with broad spectrum in vitro anti-mycobacterial activity. J. Med. Chem. 38, 3902–3907 (1995).
Crowle, A.J., Dahl, R., Ross, E. & May, M.H. Evidence that vesicles containing living, virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis or Mycobacterium avium in cultured human macrophages are not acidic. Infect. Immun. 59, 1823–1831 (1991).
Scorpio, A. & Zhang, Y. Mutations in pncA, a gene encoding pyrazinamidase/nicotinamidase, cause resistance to antituberculous drug pyrazinamide in tubercle bacillus. Nature Med. 2, 662–667 (1996).
Brander, E. A simple way of detecting pyrazinamide resistance. Tubercle, 53, 128–131 (1972).
Cole, S.T. Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Drug resistance mechanisms. Trends Microbiol. 2, 411–415 (1994).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mitchison, D. Pyrazinamide — on the antituberculosis drug frontline. Nat Med 2, 635–636 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0696-635
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0696-635
- Springer Nature America, Inc.