Context: Recently, Scientists from Agharkar Research Institute Pune have come up with first synthetic route for producing flavonoids molecules related to the treatment of Tuberculosis and Chikungunya.
Flavonoid molecules

• Flavonoids are normally isolated from plants and most ayurvedic products are rich in flavonoids.
• Flavonoids are mostly present in tomato, onion, lettuce, grape, apple, strawberry, peach, and other vegetables.
• A diet rich in flavonoids protects us from diseases related to heart, liver, kidney, brain, and other infectious diseases
• The chemical structure of flavonoids is similar to the female hormone 17-beta-estradiol (estrogen).
• Therefore, flavonoids can ease the life of women who face problems in the premenopausal stage.

Note: ‘Rugosaflavonoid A’ is from medicinal plant Rosa rugosa, ‘Podocarflavone A’ is isolated from the plant Podocarpus macrophyllus.
Tuberculosis (TB)

• Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs.
• Tuberculosis is curable and preventable.

How it is spread?

• TB is spread through the air when people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit.
• Tobacco use greatly increases the risk of TB disease and death.

Diagnosis Test

• The use of the rapid test Xpert MTB/RIF has expanded substantially since 2010.
• The test simultaneously detects TB and resistance to rifampicin, the most important TB medicine.

Multidrug-resistant TB

• Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a form of TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to isoniazid and rifampicin, the 2 most powerful first-line anti-TB drugs.
• MDR-TB is treatable and curable by using second-line drugs.
• Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) is a more serious form of MDR-TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to the most effective second-line anti-TB drugs, often leaving patients without any further treatment options.

Global TB strategy framework

• Vision: A world free of tuberculosis – zero deaths, disease and suffering due to tuberculosis
• Goal: End the global tuberculosis epidemic

Milestones for 2025

• 75% reduction in tuberculosis deaths (compared with 2015)
• 50% reduction in tuberculosis incidence rate (less than 55 tuberculosis cases per 100 000 population) – No affected families facing catastrophic costs due to tuberculosis

Targets for 2035

• 95% reduction in tuberculosis deaths (compared with 2015)
• 90% reduction in tuberculosis incidence rate (less than 10 tuberculosis cases per 100 000 population) – No affected families facing catastrophic costs due to tuberculosis

National Strategic Plan (NSP) for TB (2017 – 2025) – India

• The NSP proposes to rapidly decline TB in the country by 2030 in line with the global End TB targets and Sustainable Development Goal’s to attain the vision of a TB-free India.
• Vision: TB-Free India with zero deaths, disease and poverty due to tuberculosis.
• Goal: To achieve a rapid decline in burden of TB, morbidity and mortality while working towards elimination of TB in India by 2025.

About Chikungunya

• Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne virus caused by the bite of Aedes Aegypti mosquito.
• It causes a disease characterised by fever and severe joint pain, often in hands and feet.
• Symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling or rash.
• It has frequent outbreaks in tropical countries of Africa and Southeast Asia.