Resistance to Antibiotics and Antifungal Medicinal Products: Can Complementary and Alternative Medicine Help Solve the Problem in Common Infection Diseases? The Introduction of a Dutch Research Consortium

Abstract

The increase of antibiotic resistance worldwide, rising numbers of deaths and costs associated with this, and the fact that hardly any new antimicrobial drugs have been developed during the last decade have increased the interest in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapeutic interventions, if proven safe and effective. Observational studies on clinical CAM practices demonstrate positive effects of treatment of infections with CAM therapies (clinical effects, patient satisfaction) in combination with small percentages of antibiotics prescription. However, Cochrane reviews and other studies demonstrate that in most instances the quality of clinical trials on CAM treatment of infections is currently too low to provide sufficient evidence. Therefore a Dutch consortium on (in vitro and clinical) scientific research on CAM and antibiotic resistance has been formed. The aim and objective of the consortium is to establish an enduring partnership and to develop expertise to further develop and investigate safe and effective CAM treatments for infectious diseases of humans (and animals). A first ongoing project on the development of safe and effective biobased CAM antimycotics in women with (recurrent) vaginal candidiasis infection is introduced.

The use of Phyllanthus niruri L. as an immunomodulator for the treatment of infectious diseases in clinical settings

“…Finally, despite the necessity of more adequately powered clinical studies, the findings of the study have excitingly indicated the clinical benefits of chemo-immunotherapy in the management of vaginal candidiasis. Such an approach has been shown to accelerate the recovery as well as reduce the recurrence of the disease [78].…”

Effectiveness ofAgeratina pichinchensisExtract in Patients with Vulvovaginal Candidiasis. A Randomized, Double-Blind, and Controlled Pilot Study

“…The empirical use of plants for treating diseases produced by Candida in different parts of the world possesses a long history (Höfling et al, 2011); at present, the increased use of this type of Medicine could be a consequence of the resistance of pathogen agents to pharmaceutical antibiotics (van Minnebruggen et al, 2010). Different pharmacological in vitro evaluations and clinical trials have confirmed the antifungal properties of extracts obtained from the plant species A. pichinchensis (Castañeda et al, 1996;Romero et al, 2006;Kok et al, 2015).…”

Synthesis and the antimicrobial activity of 3-(2-methyl-4-oxo-1,4-dihydroquinoline-3-yl)propanoic acids

“…Together with vaccination and public health measures, antibiotics have played an important role in the drastic reduction of the mortality rate from infectious diseases [1]. However, from the first application of penicillin in practical medicine, humanity was faced with the serious problem of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurrence.…”