• A team of researchers at the Department of Biotechnology’s National Centre for Cell Science (DBT-NCCS) in Pune has been exploring ways to tackle miltefosine resistance.
• The researchers worked with one of the species of Leishmania that causes infection, called Leishmania major.
• The only drug available against leishmaniasis, miltefosine, is rapidly losing its effectiveness because of emerging resistance to this drug due to a decrease in its accumulation inside the parasite, which is necessary for the drug to kill the parasite.

What is Kala- azar?

• TLeishmaniasis, which is commonly known as Kala-azar in India, is a neglected tropical disease affecting almost 100 countries including India.
• It is caused by a parasite called Leishmania, which is transmitted through the bite of sand flies.
• There are three main forms of leishmaniasis:
  • visceral, which affects multiple organs and is the most serious form of the disease
  • cutaneous, which causes skin sores and is the most common form
  • mucocutaneous, which causes skin and mucosal lesion.