Targeting virulence in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria: Focus on anti-infective drug design

Antimicrobial resistance is currently one of the ten most serious threats to human health worldwide, and mycobacteria are one of the key factors in this threat. There is a general understanding that new approaches to antimicrobial therapy are needed; one of them is the inhibition of bacterial virulence. Unlike the traditional model of antibiotic discovery, which targets the functions necessary for bacterial growth, the virulence suppression approach aims to neutralize bacteria rather than destroy them. This review analyzes the successes, failures, and prospects of research into both bacterial virulence itself and the possibility of creating drugs that affect it.