Novel Approaches for Combating Multi-drug Resistant Bacterial Cells

Dear Colleagues,

Antibiotic resistance is a major problem in healthcare. This is especially important when pathogens develop resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics. Combating multi-drug-resistant infections demands a multifaceted approach, integrating innovative strategies from various fields. In this Special Issue, we focus on novel approaches to combat multi-drug-resistant infections. Some of these approaches are listed below:

• Phage therapy: Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria. Phage therapy involves isolating and purifying specific bacteriophages that target the pathogenic bacteria causing the infection. Phages and their lysins can be used for treating infections.
• Combination therapies: using combinations of antibiotics or combining antibiotics with adjuvants that enhance their efficacy or reverse resistance mechanisms can improve treatment outcomes against resistant infections.
• Antibiotic cycling and stewardship: implementing strategies to rotate or cycle the use of antibiotics in healthcare settings can help mitigate the development of resistance by reducing selective pressure.
• Quorum sensing inhibition: Many bacteria use quorum sensing to coordinate virulence and antibiotic resistance. Inhibiting quorum sensing can potentially render bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics or reduce their pathogenicity.
• Host-directed therapies: Host-directed therapies focus on modulating the host immune response to enhance bacterial clearance. This approach can be particularly useful for chronic infections when traditional antibiotics fail.
• Antimicrobial peptides: antimicrobial peptides are small proteins that play a crucial role in the innate immune response, acting as a first line of defense against invading pathogens.
• Nanoparticles: nanoparticles can be designed to deliver antimicrobial agents directly to infected tissues or to disrupt bacterial membranes, making them a potent tool against drug-resistant infections.
• CRISPR-Cas Systems: CRISPR-Cas technology can be engineered to target and edit bacterial genomes, potentially disabling antibiotic resistance mechanisms or enhancing susceptibility to existing antibiotics.
• Novel antibiotic classes: with the rise of antibiotic resistance, the discovery and development of novel antibiotic classes are crucial for maintaining effective treatments against bacterial infection.

By integrating these novel approaches with conventional strategies such as antibiotic development and infection control measures, we can better combat the growing threat of multi-drug-resistant infections.

Dr. Razieh Kebriaei
Dr. Andrew David Berti
Guest Editors

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• antibiotic resistance
• novel strategies
• novel antibiotics
• combination therapies
• bacteriophage
• host-directed therapies