Targeting quorum sensing mechanism: An alternative anti-virulent strategy for the treatment of bacterial infections

Santhakumari, S.; Ravi, A.V.

Targeting quorum sensing mechanism: An alternative anti-virulent strategy for the treatment of bacterial infections

2019

Santhakumari, S. | Ravi, A.V.

Use of antimicrobial compounds traditionally for the treatment of bacterial infections has become a major concern nowadays, due to the emergence of resistance to conventional antimicrobials. The convergence of these drifts has led to the common incidence of extensively drug-resistant bacteria. This has led to fears of a “post-antibiotic era” in which many bacterial infections will be untreatable. Therefore, alternative non-antibiotic treatment strategies need to be explored to ensure a robust pipeline of effective therapies. It has been revealed that in most bacterial pathogens the signal molecules mediated quorum sensing (QS) mechanism regulates the expression of diverse virulence genes. Hence, interfering with such QS mechanism by means of an anti-virulent approach could give rise to novel compounds to prevent bacterial infections. Currently, quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) are chosen as the best alternatives to these antimicrobial agents and they act as natural immune enhancers, which hassle the disease resistance without any selective pressure among bacterial pathogens. Overall, this mini-review confers about the mechanisms of QS mediated virulence in bacterial pathogens, anti-virulence strategies and natural inhibitors for the treatment of bacterial infections.

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