ABSTRACT
Infections caused by mycobacteria in humans were once considered dreaded diseases including tuberculosis and leprosy until the arrival of better cures. Mycobacterial infections such as tuberculosis are still the leading cause of opportunistic infection amongst patients with weakened immune systems from infections such as HIV and immune-compromised patients undergoing, for example, chemotherapy. Hydnocarpus wightianus Blume or the chaulmoogra tree is a tropical tree and endemic to India and the neighbouring regions such as Myanmar, but has been introduced to other tropical areas globally, mainly as a source of chaulmoogra oil for leprosy treatment in the days before the arrival of better drugs. Chaulmoogra oil was used in Ayuverdic medicine as well as in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of leprosy and skin diseases. The chaulmoogra oil treatment was later replaced by a new drug, dapsone, which was only partially effective due to the problem of drug resistance developed by Mycobacterium leprae.
