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Insights on Antimicrobial Resistance, Biofilms and the Use of Phytochemicals as New Antimicrobial Agents

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most serious public health problems. This is of particular concern when bacteria become resistant to various antimicrobial agents simultaneously and when they form biofilms. Consequently, therapeutic options for the treatment of infections have become limited, leading frequently to recurrent infections, treatment failure and increase of morbidity and mortality. Both, persistence and spread of antibiotic resistance, in combination with decreased effectiveness and increased toxicity of current antibiotics have emphasized the urgent need to search alternative sources of antimicrobial substances. Plants are recognized as a source of unexplored chemical structures with high therapeutic potential, including antimicrobial activity against clinically important microorganisms. Additionally, phytochemicals (plant secondary metabolites) present several advantages over synthetic molecules, including green status and different mechanisms of action from antibiotics which could help to overcome the resistance problem. In this study, an overview of the main classes of phytochemicals with antimicrobial properties and their mode of action is presented. A revision about the application of phytochemicals for biofilm prevention and control is also done. Moreover, the use of phytochemicals as scaffolds of new functional molecules to expand the antibiotics pipeline is reviewed.

Source: Current Medicinal Chemistry

DOI: 10.2174/0929867322666150530210522

Authors: Anabela Borges, Maria Saavedra, Manuel Simoes

Institution: Universidade do Porto

Language: English

Topic: Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity

Subfield: Food Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia