Operational handbook on tuberculosis. Module 4: Treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment, is a derivative product arising from the guideline on the same topic. This operational handbook is designed to facilitate implementation of the policy at country level. The target audience includes, implementing partners, programme managers, clinicians and other stakeholders engaged in TB care. The 2022 updated version of the operational handbook includes a new section stemming from the most recent round of guidelines development – the recommendation for 6-month regimen, and a new composition of the 9-month regimen for the treatment of DR-TB. Besides, the updated operational handbook includes three new web annexes: Tuberculosis medicines information sheets, management of adverse events and Active TB drug safety monitoring and management (aDSM).

This book provides a concise overview of recent advances in Pharmacokinetics (PK) and Pharmacodynamics (PD). The pharmacokinetics section covers the state of the art in Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling (Chapter 1) as well as the assessment of food effect on drug absorption using PBPK modeling (Chapter 2). Chapters 3 and 4 describe the recent development of Physiologically Based Finite Time Pharmacokinetic (PBFTPK) models and their applications to pharmacokinetic data. The pharmacodynamics section focuses on PK/PD modeling. Chapter 5 provides an overview of PK/PD modeling and simulation in clinical practice and studies. Chapter 6 deals with the subject/physiology variability issue encountered in PK/PD studies, while Chapter 7 reviews the influence of clinical pharmacology in the modernization of drug development and regulation. This book is an essential reference for pharmaceutical scientists.

World Tuberculosis (TB) Day takes place on 24th March and is designed to build awareness about the global epidemic of TB as well as the efforts and advances in eliminating the disease. TB is one of the leading causes of death from infectious diseases. The 24th March commemorates that day when Dr. Robert Koch announced that a small group of scientists at the University of Berlin’s Institute had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus in 1882. This marked a turning point in the story of virulent human infectious diseases. It is in this spirit that Frontiers is launching this Research Topic to coincide with this United Nations (UN) day. This occasion not only offers an opportunity to acknowledge and build awareness of the diseases but also to consider the importance of research in pharmacology and advances in treatment strategies.

Between 2011 and 2019, WHO has developed and issued evidence-based policy recommendations on the treatment and care of patients with DR-TB. These policy recommendations have been presented in several WHO documents and their associated annexes, including the WHO Consolidated Guidelines on Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment, issued by WHO in March 2019. The policy recommendations in each of these guidelines have been developed by WHO-convened Guideline Development Groups, using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach to summarize the evidence, and formulate policy recommendations and accompanying remarks. The present WHO Consolidated Guidelines on Tuberculosis, Module 4: Treatment - Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment includes a comprehensive set of WHO recommendations for the treatment and care of DR-TB. The document includes two new recommendations, one on the composition of shorter regimens and one on the use of the BPaL regimen (i.e. bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid). In addition, the consolidated guidelines include existing recommendations on treatment regimens for isoniazid-resistant TB and MDR/RR-TB, including longer regimens, culture monitoring of patients on treatment, the timing of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in MDR/RR-TB patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the use of surgery for patients receiving MDR-TB treatment, and optimal models of patient support and care. The guidelines are to be used primarily in national TB programmes, or their equivalents in Ministries of Health, and for other policy-makers and technical organizations working on TB and infectious diseases in public and private sectors and in the community.