Tackling Antibiotic Resistance with Compounds of Natural Origin: A Comprehensive Review

• Published in: Biomedicines Vol. 8; no. 10; p. 405
• Main Authors: Álvarez-Martínez, Francisco Javier, Barrajón-Catalán, Enrique, Micol, Vicente
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 11.10.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: antibacterial compound; Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial activity; Antimicrobial agents; antimicrobial resistance; Bacteria; Cell walls; Drug resistance; future medicine; Genes; Genomes; Informatics; Laboratories; Microorganisms; natural antimicrobial; natural origin; Natural products; polyphenols; Protein biosynthesis; Review; Staphylococcus infections; Success; polyphenols; antibacterial compound; antimicrobial resistance; natural antimicrobial; phytochemicals; natural origin; future medicine
• ISSN: 2227-9059; 2227-9059
• DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines8100405

Drug-resistant bacteria pose a serious threat to human health worldwide. Current antibiotics are losing efficacy and new antimicrobial agents are urgently needed. Living organisms are an invaluable source of antimicrobial compounds. The antimicrobial activity of the most representative natural products of animal, bacterial, fungal and plant origin are reviewed in this paper. Their activity against drug-resistant bacteria, their mechanisms of action, the possible development of resistance against them, their role in current medicine and their future perspectives are discussed. Electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus and ScienceDirect were used to search scientific contributions until September 2020, using relevant keywords. Natural compounds of heterogeneous origins have been shown to possess antimicrobial capabilities, including against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The most commonly found mechanisms of antimicrobial action are related to protein biosynthesis and alteration of cell walls and membranes. Various natural compounds, especially phytochemicals, have shown synergistic capacity with antibiotics. There is little literature on the development of specific resistance mechanisms against natural antimicrobial compounds. New technologies such as -omics, network pharmacology and informatics have the potential to identify and characterize new natural antimicrobial compounds in the future. This knowledge may be useful for the development of future therapeutic strategies.