Insights on antimicrobial resistance, biofilms and the use of phytochemicals as new antimicrobial agents

• Tipo: Artigo em Revista Científica Internacional
• Data: 2015

Autores

M. Simões (Autor) FEUP; Anabela Borges (Autor) FEUP; M. J. Saavedra (Autor) Outra

Revista

Título: Current Medicinal Chemistry

Vol. 22 Nº 21

Páginas: 2590-2614

ISSN: 0929-8673

Editora: Bentham Science

Indexação

ISI Web of Science

Scopus - 56 Citações

Classificação Científica

CORDIS: Ciências da Saúde

FOS: Ciências médicas e da saúde

Projetos Associados

LEPAE/CEFT - RL2 - (Bio) Chemical Engineering: Multi-Scale Approaches for Sustainable Environment and Health

LEPABE - Laboratório de Engenharia de Processos, Ambiente, Biotecnologia e Energia

Fitodesinfetantes - Desinfeção de bactérias planctónicas e biofilmes em ambientes hospitalares com produtos fitoquímicos

Outras Informações

ID Authenticus: P-00G-K0P

Abstract (EN): 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. © 2015 Bentham Science Publishers.

Idioma: Inglês

Tipo (Avaliação Docente): Científica

Nº de páginas: 13