About this Research Topic
Even a monotherapy in patients who administer only one medication have the potential to do harm as well as benefit. However, in the clinical settings, the use of two or more kinds of medications may be required either to manage a single disease or comorbidities. The reason of combining medications lies in the evidence that combination therapy tends to have higher cure rates than monotherapy. Combination therapy is a promising strategy for combating antimicrobial resistance.
Multidrug therapy may lead to interactions such as synergy effect, additive effect, and antagonism effect.
Synergistic effect can improve efficacy and expand antibacterial spectrum, while antagonistic effect can slow down the evolution of resistance. Hence, appropriate combination therapy of antibiotics not only enhances the drug efficacy but also prevents the emergence of drug resistance of bacteria.
On the other hand, the risk of harm in the combination therapy increases as patients take simultaneously different drugs. To date, many medications are forced to stop selling because of serious adverse events caused by combination therapy, which could affect patients' health as well as trigger huge economic losses to pharmaceutical companies.
Hence, alternation in the efficacy or toxicity of one treatment due to the presence of another simultaneously administered medication can be frequent. These alternations are called drug-drug interactions (DDIs).
DDIs greatly influence outcomes of medication therapy, thereby contributing to a huge economic burden. Hence, paying attention to DDIs is of great significance to adopt effective combination therapy and further improve the management of medical treatments.
Since clinically relevant DDIs is mainly associated with absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion process of each medication in the body as well as the interactions between various drugs in the body, in-depth understanding of the pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic processes can enhance antimicrobial effect, prevent incidence of antimicrobial resistance, and reduce adverse events. However, the information on DDIs is not enough, and the process of validating potential DDIs one by one through biological experiments is very expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, there are a lot of challenges to be addressed for safe use of multiple medications.
In this Research Topic, we invite manuscripts that address the following key topic areas:
- Developing optimal dosage of antimicrobial agents (antibiotics, antifungals, and antivirals) in patients treated with combination therapy
- Exploring mechanisms of onset of adverse events in combination therapy with antimicrobial agents and non-antimicrobial agents
- Combination therapy with antimicrobial agents and other drug classes: synergistic/antagonistic effects and mechanisms
- Influence on risk factors of developing infection in therapy of non-antimicrobial drugs
- Antimicrobial effects of non-antimicrobial drugs
We welcome original articles, reviews and mini reviews from medical and pharmacological perspectives on the benefit and risk in DDIs or special population in promoting the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents.
Multidrug therapy may lead to interactions such as synergy effect, additive effect, and antagonism effect.
Synergistic effect can improve efficacy and expand antibacterial spectrum, while antagonistic effect can slow down the evolution of resistance. Hence, appropriate combination therapy of antibiotics not only enhances the drug efficacy but also prevents the emergence of drug resistance of bacteria.
On the other hand, the risk of harm in the combination therapy increases as patients take simultaneously different drugs. To date, many medications are forced to stop selling because of serious adverse events caused by combination therapy, which could affect patients' health as well as trigger huge economic losses to pharmaceutical companies.
Hence, alternation in the efficacy or toxicity of one treatment due to the presence of another simultaneously administered medication can be frequent. These alternations are called drug-drug interactions (DDIs).
DDIs greatly influence outcomes of medication therapy, thereby contributing to a huge economic burden. Hence, paying attention to DDIs is of great significance to adopt effective combination therapy and further improve the management of medical treatments.
Since clinically relevant DDIs is mainly associated with absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion process of each medication in the body as well as the interactions between various drugs in the body, in-depth understanding of the pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic processes can enhance antimicrobial effect, prevent incidence of antimicrobial resistance, and reduce adverse events. However, the information on DDIs is not enough, and the process of validating potential DDIs one by one through biological experiments is very expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, there are a lot of challenges to be addressed for safe use of multiple medications.
In this Research Topic, we invite manuscripts that address the following key topic areas:
- Developing optimal dosage of antimicrobial agents (antibiotics, antifungals, and antivirals) in patients treated with combination therapy
- Exploring mechanisms of onset of adverse events in combination therapy with antimicrobial agents and non-antimicrobial agents
- Combination therapy with antimicrobial agents and other drug classes: synergistic/antagonistic effects and mechanisms
- Influence on risk factors of developing infection in therapy of non-antimicrobial drugs
- Antimicrobial effects of non-antimicrobial drugs
We welcome original articles, reviews and mini reviews from medical and pharmacological perspectives on the benefit and risk in DDIs or special population in promoting the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents.
Keywords: drug-drug interaction, antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, concomitant medications
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
