Iron and zinc ions, potent weapons against multidrug-resistant bacteria

• Published in: Applied microbiology and biotechnology Vol. 104; no. 12; pp. 5213 - 5227
• Main Authors: Ye, Qian, Chen, Wei, Huang, He, Tang, Yuqing, Wang, Weixiao, Meng, Fanrong, Wang, Huiling, Zheng, Yishan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibiotics; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria; Bacteria - drug effects; Bacteria - pathogenicity; Biofilms; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Drug resistance; Drug resistance in microorganisms; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; Efflux; Enzymes; Ferric oxide; Force and energy; Ionizing radiation; Ions; Iron - pharmacology; Iron oxides; Life Sciences; Metal ions; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Metal oxides; Metals; Methicillin; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Microbiology; Mini-Review; Multidrug resistance; Multidrug resistant organisms; Nanoparticles; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Physiological aspects; Sulbactam; Zinc - pharmacology; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides; China; Bactericidal mechanism; Multidrug resistance; Metal NPs; Metal ions
• ISSN: 0175-7598; 1432-0614
• DOI: 10.1007/s00253-020-10600-4

Drug-resistant bacteria are becoming an increasingly widespread problem in the clinical setting. The current pipeline of antibiotics cannot provide satisfactory options for clinicians, which brought increasing attention to the development and application of non-traditional antimicrobial substances as alternatives. Metal ions, such as iron and zinc ions, have been widely applied to inhibit pathogens through different mechanisms, including synergistic action with different metabolic enzymes, regulation of efflux pumps, and inhibition of biofilm formation. Compared with traditional metal oxide nanoparticles, iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) display stronger bactericidal effect because of their smaller ion particle sizes and higher surface energies. The combined utilization of metal NPs (nanoparticles) and antibiotics paves a new way to enhance antimicrobial efficacy and reduce the incidence of drug resistance. In this review, we summarize the physiological roles and bactericidal mechanisms of iron and zinc ions, present the recent progress in the research on the joint use of metal NPs with different antibiotics, and highlight the promising prospects of metal NPs as antimicrobial agents for tackling multidrug-resistant bacteria.