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Pharmaceuticals
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Development of Antibacterial Drugs to Combat Drug-Resistant Bacteria: 2nd Edition
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Development of Antibacterial Drugs to Combat Drug-Resistant Bacteria: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmacology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 July 2026 | Viewed by 2164

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Adriána Liptáková

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, University Hospital Bratislava, 81108 Bratislava, Slovakia
Interests: drug-resistant bacteria; antimicrobial resistance; new therapeutic solutions; improvement of existing therapies and alterantive therapies, such as autovaccines or bacteriophage therapy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Iryna Voronkina

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
Interests: drug-resistant bacteria; antimicrobial resistance; new therapeutic solutions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Antimicrobial resistance is responsible for more than 35,000 deaths per year in the EU/EEA and imposes significant costs, particularly on healthcare systems. In July 2022, the Commission, together with the Member States, recognised antimicrobial resistance as one of the most serious health threats. Overall, recent data suggest a significant upward trend in infections and associated deaths in almost all combinations of ‘antibiotic resistance’, particularly in healthcare settings. The consequence of the use of antibiotics is not only the selection of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, but also a negative impact on the human body as a whole in the form of various side effects. Since the constant growth in the antibiotic resistance of microorganisms is becoming a global problem, the development of new therapeutic solutions—including alternatives to antimicrobial drugs—or the improvement of existing ones is urgently needed.What are the best next steps? Are there promising clinical trials that address the expected situation that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will kill up to 10 million people a year by 2050? Sharing your research and thoughts can contribute towards solving this major healthcare issue—we look forward to your contributions.

Dr. Adriána Liptáková
Dr. Iryna Voronkina
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. Pharmaceuticals 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

  • development of antibacterial drugs
  • drug-resistant bacteria
  • antimicrobial resistance
  • new therapeutic solutions
  • improvement of existing therapies
  • nosocomial infections

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 2463 KB  
Article
Preliminary Studies on In Vitro Antibacterial Activity Against Staphylococcus aureus of Supercritical Fluid Extract from Juniperus oxycedrus: Evidence on Phenols Effect
by Ilir Mërtiri, Leontina Grigore-Gurgu, Liliana Mihalcea, Iuliana Aprodu, Mihaela Turturică, Gabriela Râpeanu and Nicoleta Stănciuc
Pharmaceuticals 2026, 19(2), 287; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph19020287 - 8 Feb 2026
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Abstract
Background: The growing interest in developing new bioactive agents from natural sources led to medicinal and aromatic plants. These plants provide valuable phytochemicals that can serve as natural preservatives, food additives, and flavorings, with various applications. The aim of this study is to [...] Read more.
Background: The growing interest in developing new bioactive agents from natural sources led to medicinal and aromatic plants. These plants provide valuable phytochemicals that can serve as natural preservatives, food additives, and flavorings, with various applications. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of Juniperus oxycedrus berries’ supercritical extract through preliminary screenings related to in vitro antibacterial activity, as well as bioinformatics assessments of absorption and toxicity. Methods: Supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) was used to extract the bioactive phytochemical compounds from the berries. The extract was characterized using spectrophotometric methods and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The antibacterial potential was tested against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, where the Minimal Inhibitory Concentration and the Minimal Bactericidal Concentration were determined. Additionally, the influence of the extract on the growth curve kinetics of S. aureus was assessed. For the bioinformatics analyses, SwissADME and ProTox-3.0 prediction software were utilized, focusing on the identified phenolic compounds as fingerprint molecules. Results: The results demonstrated that exposure to the juniper extract inhibited bacterial growth, resulting in a prolonged lag phase of 6 to 8 h, depending on the concentration of the extract. The software predictions revealed that the investigated phenolic compounds might exhibit high gastrointestinal absorption, along with potential interactions with metabolic mediators and pathways. Conclusions: The in vitro and in silico findings support the application of J. oxycedrus berries extract as an alternative or complementary strategy for pharmacological treatment and food applications aimed at targeting S. aureus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Antibacterial Drugs to Combat Drug-Resistant Bacteria: 2nd Edition)
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32 pages, 2896 KB  
Article
Pangenome-Guided Reverse Vaccinology and Immunoinformatics Approach for Rational Design of a Multi-Epitope Subunit Vaccine Candidate Against the Multidrug-Resistant Pathogen Chromobacterium violaceum: A Computational Immunopharmacology Perspective
by Khaled S. Allemailem
Pharmaceuticals 2026, 19(1), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph19010029 - 22 Dec 2025
Viewed by 937
Abstract
Background: Chromobacterium violaceum is an emerging multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacterium associated with severe septicemia, abscess formation, and high mortality, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. Increasing antimicrobial resistance and the absence of approved vaccines underscore the urgent need for alternative preventive strategies. Traditional vaccine [...] Read more.
Background: Chromobacterium violaceum is an emerging multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacterium associated with severe septicemia, abscess formation, and high mortality, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. Increasing antimicrobial resistance and the absence of approved vaccines underscore the urgent need for alternative preventive strategies. Traditional vaccine approaches are often inadequate against genetically diverse MDR pathogens, prompting the use of computational immunology and reverse vaccinology for vaccine design. Objectives: This study aimed to design and characterize a novel multi-epitope subunit vaccine (MEV) candidate against C. violaceum using a comprehensive pangenome-guided subtractive proteomics and immunoinformatics pipeline to identify conserved antigenic targets capable of eliciting strong immune responses. Methods: Comparative genomic analysis across eight C. violaceum strains identified 3144 core genes. Subtractive proteomics filtering yielded two essential, non-homologous, surface-accessible, and antigenic proteins—penicillin-binding protein 1A (Pbp1A) and organic solvent tolerance protein (LptD)—as vaccine targets. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL), helper T-lymphocyte (HTL), and B-cell epitopes were predicted and integrated into a 272-amino-acid MEV construct adjuvanted with human β-defensin-4A using optimal linkers. The construct was evaluated through structural modeling, molecular docking with TLR4, molecular dynamics simulation, immune simulation, and in silico cloning into the pET-28a(+) vector. Results: The MEV construct exhibited strong antigenicity, non-allergenicity, and non-toxicity, with stable tertiary structure and favorable physicochemical properties. Docking and dynamics simulations demonstrated high binding affinity and stability with TLR4 (ΔG = −16.2 kcal/mol), while immune simulations predicted durable humoral and cellular immune responses with broad population coverage (≈89%). Codon optimization confirmed high expression potential in E. coli K12. Conclusions: The pangenome-guided immunoinformatics approach enabled the identification of conserved antigenic proteins and rational design of a promising multi-epitope vaccine candidate against MDR C. violaceum. The construct exhibits favorable immunogenic and structural features, supporting its potential for experimental validation and future development as a preventive immunotherapeutic against emerging MDR pathogens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Antibacterial Drugs to Combat Drug-Resistant Bacteria: 2nd Edition)
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