Multidrug and Pan-Antibiotic Resistance—The Role of Antimicrobial and Synergistic Essential Oils: A Review

Abstract

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics continues to be a grave threat to human health. Because antibiotics are no longer a lucrative market for pharmaceutical companies, the development of new antibiotics has slowed to a crawl. The World Health Organization reported that the 8 new bacterial agents approved since July 2017 had limited clinical benefits. While a cohort of biopharmaceutical companies recently announced plans to develop 2-4 new antibiotics by 2030, we needn’t wait a decade to find innovative antibiotic candidates. Essential oils (EOs) have long been known as antibacterial agents with wide-ranging arsenals. Many are able to penetrate the bacterial membrane and may also be effective against bacterial defenses such as biofilms, efflux pumps, and quorum sensing. EOs have been documented to fight drug-resistant bacteria alone and/or combined with antibiotics. This review will summarize research showing the significant role of EOs as nonconventional regimens against the worldwide spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. The authors conducted a 4-year search of the US National Library of Medicine (PubMed) for relevant EO studies against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, multidrug-resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli, EO combinations/synergy with antibiotics, against MDR fungal infections, showing the ability to permeate bacterial membranes, and against the bacterial defenses listed above. EOs are readily available and are a needed addition to the arsenal against resistant pathogens.

Piper multinodum C.DC. (Piperaceae) essential oils chemical variation and biological activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

“…There were approximately 10 million new cases of TB recorded in the year 2017 alone, with approximately 1.3 million deaths recorded. Among these deaths, approximately 300.000 were related to people positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (WHO, 2010;Boren et al, 2020).…”

“…The increase in cases of development of drug resistance in the treatment of TB has contributed to the worsening of this scenario worldwide, with the occurrence of multidrug-resistant, extensively resistant, and currently fully resistant M. tuberculosis, being a threat to the control of this disease, which requires the urgent development of new and more effective drugs (WHO, 2010;Boren et al, 2020).…”

“…In 2017, 480,000 new patients with multidrug-resistnt were reported, almost half of them occurring in India, China and the Russian Federation (Nair et al, 2017;WHO, 2010;Boren et al, 2020). EO and extracts are known for their antimicrobial action against a wide range of bacterial strains (Fernandez et al, 2019;Boren et al, 2020).…”

“…In 2017, 480,000 new patients with multidrug-resistnt were reported, almost half of them occurring in India, China and the Russian Federation (Nair et al, 2017;WHO, 2010;Boren et al, 2020). EO and extracts are known for their antimicrobial action against a wide range of bacterial strains (Fernandez et al, 2019;Boren et al, 2020). Both natural products and their derivatives show inhibitory activity against M. tuberculosis growth, and some have even been selected as prototype molecules for the development of new anti-TB agents.…”

Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activities of the Essential Oil From the Leaves of Pterocephalus hookeri

“…1 Many plant-derived essential oils are known to exhibit antimicrobial activity against a wide range of bacteria and fungi. [2][3][4] Essential oils have potential for use as new natural antimicrobial alternatives. The genus Pterocephalus, belonging to the family Dipsacaceae, comprises approximately 30 species widely distributed from Mediterranean to central Asia and tropical Africa.…”