An Explorative Review on Advanced Approaches to Overcome Bacterial Resistance by Curbing

The continuous emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens evoked the development of innovative approaches targeting virulence factors unique to their pathogenic cascade. These approaches aimed to explore anti-virulence or anti-infective therapies. There are evident concerns regarding the bacterial ability to create a superstructure, the biofilm. Biofilm formation is a crucial virulence factor causing difficult-to-treat, localized, and systemic infections. The microenvironments of bacterial biofilm reduce the efficacy of antibiotics and evade the host's immunity. Producing a biofilm is not limited to a specific group of bacteria; however, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Staphylococcus aureus biofilms are exemplary models. This review discusses biofilm formation as a virulence factor and the link to antimicrobial resistance. In addition, it explores insights into innovative multi-targeted approaches and their physiological mechanisms to combat biofilms, including natural compounds, phages, antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT), CRISPR-Cas gene editing, and nano-mediated techniques.

Automated summary

The emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens has led to the development of innovative approaches targeting unique virulence factors. Biofilm formation, a crucial virulence factor, reduces the efficacy of antibiotics and evades host immunity. This review discusses the link between biofilm formation and antimicrobial resistance, as well as innovative approaches to combat biofilms using natural compounds, phages, antimicrobial photodynamic therapy, gene editing, and nano-mediated techniques.