The emergence and expansion of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria
have become a global threat to both humans and animals. Immense use, overuse and
misuse of antibiotics over several decades have increased the frequencies of resistance
in pathogenic bacteria and resulted in significant medical problems. To fight against the
widespread drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria has become a terrific challenge for the
modern healthcare system. The major challenges to fight against pathogenic bacteria
involve long-term antibiotic therapy with combinations of drugs. The abundance of
resistance mechanisms in pathogenic bacteria has compelled many therapeutic
antibiotics to become ineffective. As a result, the elimination of drug-resistant
pathogenic bacteria requires a judicious strategy. The advent of nanotechnology has
unveiled a new horizon in the field of nanomedicine. Nanoparticle-based techniques
have the potential to overcome the challenges faced by traditional antimicrobials. In
this way, self-assembling amphiphilic molecules have emerged as a fascinating
technique to fight against pathogenic bacteria because of their ability to function as
nanocarriers of bactericidal agents and interact and disrupt bacterial membranes.
Nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems can mitigate toxicity issues and the adverse
effects of high antibiotic doses. The focus of this chapter is to discuss various
amphiphilic nanocarriers and their roles and possibilities in fighting against pathogenic
bacteria.
Keywords: Amphiphile, Bacteria, Copolymers, Cubosome, Dendrimer, Drug Delivery, Hydrogel, Hydrophilic, Hydrophobic, Lipidated Peptide Amphiphile, Liposome, Micelle, Multidrug Resistance, Nanocarrier, Niosome, Pathogen, Peptide Amphiphile, Polymerosome, Self-assembly, Synthetic Amphiphile.