Editorial: Alternative Therapeutics against MDR Bacteria – “Fighting the Epidemic of Antibiotic Resistance”

Citation: Martins M and McCusker MP (2016) Editorial: Alternative Therapeutics against MDR Bacteria – " Fighting the Epidemic of Antibiotic Resistance ". Alternative Therapeutics against MDR Bacteria – " Fighting the Epidemic of Antibiotic Resistance " The introduction of the first antibiotic, followed by the " golden age " of antibiotic discovery was expected to herald the end of infectious diseases. However, microbial evolution in response to antibiotic selection pressure has ended that expectation. The rise of resistance coincided with a decline in the discovery of new antibiotics. With some infections now essentially untreatable, initiatives are being put in place to redress this situation. Among the Enterobacter species, resistance in Enterobacter aerogenes and E. cloacae is rising. Davin-Regli and Pagès provide an overview of the factors that contribute to this and to the dissemination of Enterobacter spp.. These authors discuss how the prevalence of multiresistant isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae from major international clones has increased during the last decade while the incidence of E. aerogenes, which has proven unable to develop a major clone to date, has declined significantly. This is supported by recent findings that diverse fitness associated with resistance to fluoroquinolones influenced the selection of these major clones (Fuzi, 2016). Additionally, these clones retain fitness by developing high-level fluoroquinolone resistance without using energy-consuming efflux (Tóth et al., 2014; Johnson et al., 2015). The fact that active efflux systems are widespread in E. aerogenes supports this concept (Chevalier et al., 2008). In the battle against these and other pathogens, rapid detection and characterization of their drug resistance profile is crucial. Nanotechnology-based approaches have allowed for the development of fast and sensitive detection methods for various pathogens. In their review, Baptista and co-workers discuss the use of gold nanoparticles to screen molecular signatures of drug resistance (Veigas et al.). These authors provide a critical evaluation of current and future developments of technologies assisting pathogen identification and characterization of antibiotic resistance profiles. The use of antimicrobial peptides has been investigated due to their broad-spectrum activity. Roy and co-workers reported the use of a modified broth of Bacillus subtilis showing activity against multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes and Enterococcus faecalis (Chalasani et al.). This and other lead molecules are needed to treat different types of infections caused by pathogens, like S. aureus. In prosthetic vascular grafts S. aureus leads to high morbidity and mortality. Due to its …