Alternative Approaches to Treating Antimicrobial Resistant Infections, 4th Edition

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Antibiotic Therapy in Infectious Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 887

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School of Medicine and Biosciences, University of West London, Brentford TW8 9GA, UK
Interests: Targeted metabolomics; isotope labelling; microbial metabolomics; GC-MS; LC-MS; NMR
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will focus on alternative approaches to treating antimicrobial-resistant infections. The discovery of antibiotics revolutionized the clinical treatment of bacterial infections; however, this fundamental pillar of modern medicine is now crumbling. The development of novel antimicrobials has slowed down in recent years, and major pharmaceutical firms have withdrawn from the field of anti-infective research due to its low profitability.

As a consequence, many infections are now difficult to treat, which is raising mortality and healthcare-associated costs due to difficulties in accomplishing total remission. Antimicrobial resistance is now considered to be one of the greatest risks to humanity. Common surgical procedures and treatments that could lead to immunosuppression may soon be considered high-risk due to the antibiotic crisis (e.g., cancer chemotherapy or organ transplants).

We are therefore inviting both reviews and original articles on the latest developments in novel antibacterial strategies with which to treat infections caused by antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. Topics include the development of novel combinatorial therapies based on the repurposing of anti-infectives, host-targeted therapies, bacteriophages, the use of predatory bacteria, bacteriocins, antimicrobial peptides, nanoparticles, natural compounds, immunotherapeutics, probiotics used for the competitive exclusion of pathogens, and the development of novel antibacterial compounds.

Dr. Michal Letek
Dr. Volker Behrends
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • repurposing
  • anti-infectives
  • host-targeted therapies
  • bacteriophages
  • predatory bacteria
  • bacteriocins
  • antimicrobial peptides
  • nanoparticles
  • natural compounds
  • immunotherapy
  • probiotics
  • antibiotics

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 530 KB  
Article
Antibiotic Adjuvant Potential of Selected Essential Oil Components Against Respiratory Pathogens: From Planktonic Synergy to Early-Stage Biofilm Inhibition
by Viktória Lilla Balázs, Rita Filep, Edit Ormai, Lilla Radványi, Béla Kocsis, Erika Kerekes and Marianna Kocsis
Antibiotics 2026, 15(4), 403; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics15040403 - 16 Apr 2026
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Abstract
Background: Respiratory tract infections remain among the most common indications for antibiotic therapy and represent a major driver of antimicrobial resistance. The ability of respiratory pathogens to form biofilms further contributes to treatment failure and recurrence. This study aimed to evaluate the antibiotic [...] Read more.
Background: Respiratory tract infections remain among the most common indications for antibiotic therapy and represent a major driver of antimicrobial resistance. The ability of respiratory pathogens to form biofilms further contributes to treatment failure and recurrence. This study aimed to evaluate the antibiotic adjuvant potential of selected essential oil components against clinically relevant respiratory bacteria and to determine whether planktonic synergistic interactions translate into early-stage antibiofilm efficacy. Thymol, eugenol, trans-cinnamaldehyde, and terpinen-4-ol were tested against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Haemophilus influenzae, Haemophilus parainfluenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods: Minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined by broth microdilution. Synergistic interactions with clinically relevant antibiotics were assessed using the checkerboard method and fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) analysis. Selected combinations were further evaluated in a 6 h crystal violet-based early-stage biofilm model. Gram-positive strains generally exhibited higher susceptibility to the tested components than Gram-negative bacteria. Results: Synergistic interactions (FICI ≤ 0.5) were most frequently observed between β-lactam antibiotics and phenolic components, particularly thymol and trans-cinnamaldehyde. Strong synergy was detected for vancomycin-eugenol against MRSA and for amoxicillin/clavulanic acid–cinnamaldehyde against M. catarrhalis. Importantly, synergistic combinations translated into significantly enhanced inhibition of early biofilm formation, increasing inhibition rates by 15–40% compared to antibiotic monotherapy (p < 0.05). Selected essential oil components enhanced the antibacterial activity of clinically relevant antibiotics and effectively potentiated early-stage biofilm inhibition. Conclusions: These findings support further investigation of phytochemical-antibiotic combinations as potential adjunct strategies in respiratory infection management. Full article
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