pharmaceutics Review Drug Delivery Systems on Leprosy Therapy: Moving Towards Eradication? Luíse L. Chaves 1,2,*, Yuri Patriota 2, José L. Soares-Sobrinho 2 , Alexandre C. C. Vieira 1,3, Sofia A. Costa Lima 1,4 and Salette Reis 1,* 1 Laboratório Associado para a Química Verde, Rede de Química e Tecnologia, Departamento de Ciências Químicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal;
[email protected] (A.C.C.V.); slima@ff.up.pt (S.A.C.L.) 2 Núcleo de Controle de Qualidade de Medicamentos e Correlatos, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife 50740-521, Brazil;
[email protected] (Y.P.);
[email protected] (J.L.S.-S.) 3 Laboratório de Tecnologia dos Medicamentos, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife 50740-521, Brazil 4 Cooperativa de Ensino Superior Politécnico e Universitário, Instituto Universitário de Ciências da Saúde, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal * Correspondence:
[email protected] (L.L.C.); shreis@ff.up.pt (S.R.) Received: 30 October 2020; Accepted: 4 December 2020; Published: 11 December 2020 Abstract: Leprosy disease remains an important public health issue as it is still endemic in several countries. Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, presents tropism for cells of the reticuloendothelial and peripheral nervous system. Current multidrug therapy consists of clofazimine, dapsone and rifampicin. Despite significant improvements in leprosy treatment, in most programs, successful completion of the therapy is still sub-optimal. Drug resistance has emerged in some countries. This review discusses the status of leprosy disease worldwide, providing information regarding infectious agents, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, actual treatment and future perspectives and strategies on targets for an efficient targeted delivery therapy.