Leprosy and its Chemotherapy [A Hanseníase e a sua Quimioterapia]

Leprosy is a neglected tropical disease infectious, present in 141 countries and territories around the world. In 2010 were diagnosed around 245 thousand new cases, leaving Brazil as the 2nd largest number of cases worldwide. The first treatment of leprosy began in the 40s with the development of dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine. They were used as monotherapy presenting side effects and resistance to M. leprae. To overcome this problem the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced MultiDrug Therapy (MDT), which has shown to be quite effective, however the goal of leprosy elimination was still not achieved. Thus, there is the emerging need to search for new drugs that could be selective, effective and less toxic. This review presents historical aspects and relevance of this disease as well as recent advances from research on synthetic compounds and the current chemotherapy.