The Fifth Decennial International Conference on Healthcare-Associated Infections, held March 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, brought the issue of antimicrobial drug resistance to the forefront. Results of a survey that polled members of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America regarding critical knowledge gaps and research priorities were presented. Respondents reported that 3 of the 5...

National Antibiotic Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS)– enteric bacteria is a collaboration by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA-CVM), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS). NARMS was established in 1996 and monitors antimicrobial drug resistance in Ca...

Antimicrobial drug resistance is usually not monitored in under-resourced countries because they lack surveillance networks, laboratory capacity, and appropriate diagnostics. This accelerating problem accounts for substantial number of excess deaths, especially among infants. Infections particularly affected by antimicrobial drug resistance include tuberculosis, malaria, severe acute respirator...

Amphipathic α-helical antimicrobial peptides comprise a class of broad-spectrum agents that are used against pathogens. We designed a series of antimicrobial peptides, CP-P (KWKSFIKKLTSKFLHLAKKF) and its derivatives, and determined their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, their minimum hemolytic concentrations (MHCs) for human erythrocytes, and the Therapeu...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are evolutionarily ancient factors of the innate immune system that serve as a crucial first line of defense for humans, animals, and plants against infection. This review focuses on the structural organization, biosynthesis, and biological functions of AMPs that possess a β-hairpin spatial structure. Representatives of this class of AMPs are among the most active ...

Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) were first known as a group of innate immune products that mainly targets on the invading pathogens among multiple species. The essential mechanisms of action of AMPs toward microbial cells have been reported as electrostatic attraction and hydrophobic interaction between AMPs (cationic AMPs) and microbial cell membranes. These effects also contribute to the potent...

Staphylococcus epidermidis has emerged as the main causative agent for graft-related and nosocomial infections. Rampant use of antibiotics and biofilm formed by the organism results in poor penetration of the drug and further aggravates the antibiotic resistance, emphasizing an urgent need to explore alternative treatment modalities. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), produced as effector molecules...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play an important role as a host defense against microbial pathogens and are key components of the human innate immune response. Neisseria meningitidis frequently colonizes the human nasopharynx as a commensal but also is a worldwide cause of epidemic meningitis and rapidly fatal sepsis. In the human respiratory tract, the only known reservoir of N. meningitidis, m...

For the last few years, antibiotic resistance has become one of the major concerns within medical society. On one hand, pathogens have mostly acquired resistance against the major conventional antibiotics used in the treatment of microbial infections. These included even first-line antibiotics, which are critical in the treatment of severe infections. This catastrophic situation has occurred du...

The risk of antimicrobial agents used in food-producing animals on public health associated with antimicrobial resistance continues to be a current topic of discussion as related to animal and human public health. In the present review, resistance monitoring data, and risk assessment results of some important antimicrobial agents were cited to elucidate the possible association of antimicrobial...