In the treatment of tuberculosis, the therapeutic rationale for combination drug therapy is to:
A. Decrease cost and improve compliance.
B. Reduce the incidence of cumulative effects.
C. Increase blood dyscrasias.
D. Decrease emergence of drug-resistance strains.
Correct Answer: D. Decrease emergence of drug-resistance restraints.
Combination therapy helps decrease the emergence of drug-resistant strains. One major benefit of combination therapies is that they reduce the development of drug resistance since a pathogen or tumor is less likely to have resistance to multiple drugs simultaneously.
Option A: Multiple drugs usually increase cost and reduce compliance. Combination therapy may seem costlier than monotherapy in the short term, but when it is used appropriately, it causes significant savings: lower treatment failure rate, lower case-fatality ratios, fewer side-effects than monotherapy, slower development of resistance, and thus less money needed for the development of new drugs.
Option B: Multiple drugs increase cumulative effects. In the case of a drug that is effective against actively multiplying mycobacteria, this would be advantageous because the drug would continually be available for prolonged periods at the site in the event the organism underwent any multiplication cycle. Microsphere technology has the capability of accomplishing these goals by achieving intracellular delivery of antimycobacterial drugs and allowing programmed controlled release over a prolonged period
Option C: Blood dyscrasias would be an untoward effect not the desired effect. Nausea, diarrhea, and loss of appetite are very common adverse effects, they usually pass after a few weeks as TB medication is continued. Strong and continuous nausea can be treated with medicines.