New Natural Products as Candidates for the Discovery of Antimicrobial Drugs

Dear Colleagues,

Antimicrobial resistance has emerged as a global public health threat in recent decades due to the increasing number of microorganisms with resistance to one or more antimicrobial agents. Therefore, nowadays, there is an urgent need to find and develop new antimicrobial compounds of natural origin to fight life-threatening bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. Moreover, another equally important objective is to determine the ability of these pathogens to develop resistance against currently used treatment strategies and suggest therapeutic regimens to overcome resistance or new targeted therapies. Currently, antibiotics and antimicrobial chemotherapeutics comprise the main anti-infective strategy for patients in infectious, trauma, intensive care units. Unfortunately, their effectiveness is decreasing across the globe due to the global emergence of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) bacterial pathogens, turning bacterial infections into a serious concern. The prevention of the MDR pathogens that are spreading across healthcare facilities also remains a huge challenge because these microorganisms represent a serious cause of healthcare-associated infections.

This Special Issue will focus on new, safe, and effective antimicrobial products/compounds of plant, microbial, and animal origin, including different compounds, such as triterpenoids, alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, antimicrobial peptides, metalloantibiotics, bacteriocins, and efflux pump inhibitors. We welcome all studies on the following:

• Production, isolation, phytochemical characterization, and in vitro/in vivo activity of new natural metabolites with antimicrobial activity;
• Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of known and new natural metabolites possessing antimicrobial activity;
• Discovery of new antimicrobial targets in resistant microorganisms and ways for their inhibition;
• Drug–drug interactions between natural products/compounds and clinically applied antibiotics for overcoming antimicrobial resistance in resistant and MDR microorganisms;
• Improvement in antimicrobial potential and the bioavailability of known and new antimicrobial compounds of natural origin through different nanodelivery systems;
• In vitro and in vivo toxicological evaluations of new antimicrobial compounds of natural origin and possibilities for the reduction of toxicity;
• Natural agents for the microbial decontamination of healthcare surfaces, food contact materials, and other occupational, industrial, and domestic applications.

Dr. Maya Zaharieva
Prof. Dr. Hristo Najdenski
Guest Editors

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• natural products
• antimicrobial mechanisms and strategies
• combination effects
• clinical applicability
• in silico, in vitro and in vivo models
• infection control