While antimicrobial resistance continues to rise, spread and threaten to roll back decades of progress in treating human and animal infectious diseases, the antimicrobial development pipeline has run dry in the 21st century. Evidence shows that antimicrobial resistance is a lead factor of fatality in the management of many tropical diseases. Since most antibiotics become ineffective by drug-resistant bacteria, emphasis should be put on alternative therapies for treating infections. Most of such alternative strategies are however not new because they naturally exist in nature and have been used in many areas of the world for centuries, although the challenge remains on their evidence-based clinical characterization and implementation. The use of medicinal plants, for instance in the treatment and prevention of infectious pathogens in developing countries where tropical infectious diseases prevail, is as old as the world. With the absence of new and effective antimicrobial agents, and the alarming level of resistance, the adoption of alternative strategies is of paramount importance to enhance the elimination of resistant microbial pathogens. Moreover, bacteriophage (or phage) therapy, is also an ancient and interesting alternative where lytic phages with their very species-specific characteristic have been shown to be a great deal of support when it comes to tackling antimicrobial resistant bugs without altering the existing microbial flora. By analogy, studies have also demonstrated the potential of probiotics in the effective biocontrol of resistant pathogens, while keeping the natural flora intact or further enriched. Other alternative antimicrobial therapies are based on the use of antimicrobial peptides that cause disruption of the bacterial membrane and can be used in the treatment of bacterial, fungal and viral infections and in the prevention of biofilm formation. The use of antibacterial antibodies also promises to be safe and effective.
The past decade, marked by extensive funding and research on antimicrobial resistance, was mainly focused on the characterization and surveillance of the spread of resistant strains with little effort on the search for novel solutions. Nevertheless, several research groups around the world and mainly in developing countries have begun to address the issues of biological alternatives that can effectively tackle the gap left by ineffective chemical antimicrobial agents. Such studies are hereby encouraged and will be centralized in this collection in order to promote a better readership and universal access to updated outputs in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.
The present collection aims to highlight recent advances in the search for biological and affordable antimicrobial alternatives that are effective against multidrug resistant pathogens of interest in tropical infectious diseases.
The topics span across but not limited to:
I. in-vitro and in-vivo characterizations of medicinal plants, bacteriophages, probiotics etc. on the growth of resistant bugs
II. Mode and mechanisms of actions of the identified alternatives
III. Intervention studies that include biological antimicrobial alternatives
IV. Challenges and success in implementation of biological antimicrobial alternatives
V. Manuscripts making inventories of existing knowledge on the use of antimicrobial alternatives are also welcome
While antimicrobial resistance continues to rise, spread and threaten to roll back decades of progress in treating human and animal infectious diseases, the antimicrobial development pipeline has run dry in the 21st century. Evidence shows that antimicrobial resistance is a lead factor of fatality in the management of many tropical diseases. Since most antibiotics become ineffective by drug-resistant bacteria, emphasis should be put on alternative therapies for treating infections. Most of such alternative strategies are however not new because they naturally exist in nature and have been used in many areas of the world for centuries, although the challenge remains on their evidence-based clinical characterization and implementation. The use of medicinal plants, for instance in the treatment and prevention of infectious pathogens in developing countries where tropical infectious diseases prevail, is as old as the world. With the absence of new and effective antimicrobial agents, and the alarming level of resistance, the adoption of alternative strategies is of paramount importance to enhance the elimination of resistant microbial pathogens. Moreover, bacteriophage (or phage) therapy, is also an ancient and interesting alternative where lytic phages with their very species-specific characteristic have been shown to be a great deal of support when it comes to tackling antimicrobial resistant bugs without altering the existing microbial flora. By analogy, studies have also demonstrated the potential of probiotics in the effective biocontrol of resistant pathogens, while keeping the natural flora intact or further enriched. Other alternative antimicrobial therapies are based on the use of antimicrobial peptides that cause disruption of the bacterial membrane and can be used in the treatment of bacterial, fungal and viral infections and in the prevention of biofilm formation. The use of antibacterial antibodies also promises to be safe and effective.
The past decade, marked by extensive funding and research on antimicrobial resistance, was mainly focused on the characterization and surveillance of the spread of resistant strains with little effort on the search for novel solutions. Nevertheless, several research groups around the world and mainly in developing countries have begun to address the issues of biological alternatives that can effectively tackle the gap left by ineffective chemical antimicrobial agents. Such studies are hereby encouraged and will be centralized in this collection in order to promote a better readership and universal access to updated outputs in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.
The present collection aims to highlight recent advances in the search for biological and affordable antimicrobial alternatives that are effective against multidrug resistant pathogens of interest in tropical infectious diseases.
The topics span across but not limited to:
I. in-vitro and in-vivo characterizations of medicinal plants, bacteriophages, probiotics etc. on the growth of resistant bugs
II. Mode and mechanisms of actions of the identified alternatives
III. Intervention studies that include biological antimicrobial alternatives
IV. Challenges and success in implementation of biological antimicrobial alternatives
V. Manuscripts making inventories of existing knowledge on the use of antimicrobial alternatives are also welcome