Title:Insights on Antimicrobial Resistance, Biofilms and the Use of Phytochemicals as New Antimicrobial Agents
Volume: 22
Issue: 21
Author(s): Anabela Borges, Maria J. Saavedra and Manuel Simoes
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Antibiotic resistance, biofilm control, infectious biofilms, mode of action, natural products, phytochemicals.
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.
