Sustainable Innovation in Antibiotic Adjuvants: Developing Strategies to Overcome Antibiotic Resistance and Biofilm Infections

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Biosynthesis and Combinatorial Approaches in Antimicrobial Discovery".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 58

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy (LEPABE), Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal
Interests: bacterial infection; multidrug-resistance; biofilms; phytochemicals; strategies of biofilm prevention and control; quorum-sensing; quorum-quenching; virulence attenuators; drug-repurposing; molecular docking
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
ALiCE-LEPABE, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Interests: antibiofilm agents; biofilm formation; cell-cell interaction; coaggregation; drinking water; microscopy; multispecies biofilms; phytochemicals; structural microbiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue seeks to explore innovative, sustainable strategies for developing novel antibiotic adjuvants that enhance the effectiveness of existing antibiotics against both antibiotic-resistant pathogens and biofilm-associated infections. With a focus on eco-friendly methodologies, this Special Issue welcomes contributions describing the sustainable synthesis of bioactive compounds from diverse natural sources (plants, microbes, etc.) and cutting-edge synthetic and rational design approaches. Emphasis is placed on studies that elucidate the mechanisms by which these adjuvants disrupt biofilm integrity and overcome resistance pathways, as well as those that investigate the synergistic interactions between adjuvants and conventional antibiotics. By integrating sustainable practices (i.e., green chemistry and life cycle analyses) with advanced medicinal chemistry and translational research, this Special Issue aims to address critical challenges in the treatment of infectious diseases.

This topic is perfectly aligned with the scope of Antibiotics, as it targets both the global burden of antibiotic resistance and the complexity of biofilm-related infections, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations that promise to enhance the next generation of antimicrobial therapies.

Dr. Anabela Borges
Dr. Ana C. Afonso
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • adjuvants
  • antibiotic resistance
  • biofilms
  • drug development
  • green chemistry
  • natural products
  • synergistic interactions

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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