Antibiotics Pharmacy and Health Blog from myGenericPharmacy.com

Recent Advances in Strategies to Combat Bacterial Drug Resistance: Antimicrobial Materials and Drug Delivery Systems

November 19, 2025 blogadmin Comments 0 Comment

Bacterial infection is a common clinical disease. Antibiotics have saved countless lives since their discovery and are a powerful weapon in the fight against bacteria. However, with the widespread use of antibiotics, the problem of drug resistance now poses a great threat to human health. In recent years, studies have investigated approaches to combat bacterial resistance. Several antimicrobial materials and drug delivery systems have emerged as promising strategies. Nano-drug delivery systems for antibiotics can reduce the resistance to antibiotics and extend the lifespan of novel antibiotics, and they allow targeting drug delivery compared to conventional antibiotics.

This review highlights the mechanistic insights of using different strategies to combat drug-resistant bacteria and summarizes the recent advancements in antimicrobial materials and drug delivery systems for different carriers. Furthermore, the fundamental properties of combating antimicrobial resistance are discussed, and the current challenges and future perspectives in this field are proposed.

Bacterial infection is a common clinical disease that can affect a number of organs and tissues in the human body. Antibiotics are used clinically to combat pathogenic bacteria, which in turn have gradually developed resistance to more antibiotics. Simultaneously, vancomycin, polymyxin, and other antibiotics known as the “last line of defense” have also produced multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. The accumulation of bacterial genetic mutations will lead to the emergence of “superbugs” and superbug infections that are almost incurable. This has made the treatment of clinical trauma infections extremely difficult, and scientists have speculated that mankind will soon enter the “post-antibiotic era” in response to the current situation.

Medical researchers have pointed out that about 50% of the world’s antibiotics are misused each year, and over 80,000 people in China currently die indirectly or directly from antibiotic misuse in China each year. The new Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) of the World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed widespread antibiotic resistance among 500,000 suspected bacterial infections in 22 countries. In 2017, the WHO released the 12 most resistant “superbugs” that pose the greatest threat to human health, including carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), and Escherichia coli (E. coli), which are classified as “urgent” level and had the highest urgency for new antibiotics. For example, P. aeruginosa displays an exceptional level of resistance to antibiotics and has the remarkable ability to develop antibiotic resistance in hospitalized patients.

The number of deaths directly caused by antibiotic resistance in 2019 is equal to the number of deaths caused by AIDS and malaria combined, and antibiotic resistance-related deaths are the third leading cause of death globally after ischemic heart disease and stroke. According to a recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), antibiotic resistance causes millions of infections around the world each year. The study estimated that by 2050, 10 million people worldwide each year will die due to bacterial resistance; this equates to one death every three seconds, which is higher than the current number of deaths from cancer.

Over the course of the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, there were increasing reports of bacterial infections that may have been common or secondary to respiratory infections in patients with COVID-19. In recent years, bacteria and other organisms have been detected in the microenvironment of various tumors, and studies have found that these bacteria are actually the “accomplices” of the tumors. It was found that most solid tumors, including breast cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, and pancreatic cancer, contain bacteria, mostly tumor-specific intracellular bacteria. Cai’s team at Westlake University reported that a variety of unique “intracellular bacteria” present in breast cancer tissues played an important role in the metastatic colonization process.

Bacteria have been constantly invading people, which means that we are facing a public health crisis of unimaginable proportions, and there is an urgent need for researchers to investigate new strategies and fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR) with new agents with lower drug resistance. In this review, we summarize the types of traditional antibiotics and their mechanisms of action and resistance.

As conventional antibiotics are commonly used clinically and have been summarized in the relevant literature, we provide a brief overview of conventional antibiotics and instead focus on various other strategies to combat drug-resistant bacteria. In particular, strategies to combat the pressing bacterial resistance problem, including various antimicrobial materials and different drug delivery systems, are summarized and highlighted. Finally, we discuss the potential challenges of bacterial drug resistance and explore the development trends.

In 1928, British bacteriologist Alexander Fleming stumbled upon penicillin, the first antibiotic to be discovered by humans. This discovery led to a revolution in the medical world, and humans were no longer helpless in the face of bacterial infections. Subsequently, antibiotics, representing natural and chemically synthesized entities, have become powerful tools in the fight against infectious diseases. Antibiotics are commonly used in the treatment and prevention of infections and are classified according to their chemical structure.

Antibiotics have saved countless lives since their discovery, making them a powerful weapon in the fight against bacteria. However, antibiotics are not omnipotent. With the widespread use of antibiotics, the problem of drug resistance has gradually become serious. Antibiotic resistance mechanisms are generated corresponding to their mechanism of action. The mechanisms of action and resistance of different types of antibiotics are summarized in the following sections.

Antibiotic-mediated cell death is a complex process that involves physical interactions between drug molecules and specific targets in bacteria and thus alters the state at the biochemical, molecular, and ultrastructural levels in the affected bacteria. The mechanisms of action mainly include inhibition of the bacterial cell wall, protein, and nucleic acid synthesis; changes to the cell membrane permeability; and inhibition of bacterial metabolic pathways.

Inhibition of bacterial cell wall synthesis is the main action mechanism of β-lactam and glycopeptide antibiotics. The β-lactam antibiotics work by binding through the β-lactam ring to the bacterial penicillin-binding protein (PBP), which acts to synthesize and remodel bacterial peptidoglycans, thus inhibiting the transpeptidation effect. The mechanism of action of vancomycin, a representative drug of glycopeptide antibiotics, is to form a hydrogen bond compound with the terminal dipeptide D-alanine-D-alanine region of the precursor lipid II of the peptidoglycan chain of the bacterial cell wall, interfering with the peptidoglycan layer maturation process and thereby preventing cell wall synthesis.

Reference:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10141387/#abstract1
https://asm.org/articles/2025/august/ai-next-frontier-antibiotic-discovery
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0223523424007141

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Can antibiotics, vaccines, and antivirals help lower dementia risk?

January 23, 2025 blogadmin Comments 0 Comment

A recent systematic review found that anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen, as well as antibiotics, antiviral drugs, and vaccines, were linked to a lower risk of dementia. Up to 70% of those with dementia have Alzheimer’s disease, and the condition affects over 55 million people globally at an estimated cost of over $1 trillion. Before drawing any conclusions about repurposing current medications for the treatment of dementia, experts point out that more research is necessary due to the complexity of dementia in various individuals. In a recent systematic review, researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Exeter in the United Kingdom found that anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, antibiotics, antiviral drugs, and vaccines, were linked to a lower risk of dementia.

Published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions, the review examined data from 14 studies that included 1 million dementia cases and over 130 million people. Antimicrobials, vaccinations, and anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were linked to a lower risk of dementia. In contrast, vitamins, supplements, antipsychotics, and diabetes medications were somewhat linked to a higher risk, according to the researchers’ analysis of medical and administrative records as well as large clinical datasets. Evidence regarding antidepressants and certain blood pressure medications was inconclusive. The authors observed that overall, there was a lack of consistency across studies in identifying specific medications that alter the risk of Alzheimer’s disease or all-cause dementia and that some limitations and false positives may have impacted findings.

It’s crucial to keep in mind that dementia, which merely characterizes a collection of progressive symptoms, can result from a variety of pathological conditions. Furthermore, according to Dr. Dot MacSweeney, Alzheimer’s disease, the most prevalent cause of dementia as we age, is not a single illness. It is complicated and has a lot of aberrant biomarkers. However, it is widely acknowledged that the majority of conditions that eventually lead to dementia do, in large part, have a neuroinflammatory origin, just like many other diseases. Large-scale, longitudinal, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are required to prove a causal relationship between dementia risk and particular medications, according to MacSweeney.

Confounding variables such as age, gender, and comorbidities should be controlled for, and lifestyle and genetic data should be included to find effects specific to subgroups, and biomarkers (e.g. G. levels of tau or amyloid) to gauge how drugs affect the body. She also suggested that they concentrate on long-term results to verify a lower incidence of dementia. Given how common these drugs are already worldwide, Clifford Segil, DO, a neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, who was not involved in the review, expressed some skepticism to MNT regarding its findings: Studies frequently surface expressing concern for prescription and over-the-counter medications causing dementia that are not clinically observed. For instance, studies have shown that taking allergy drugs like Benadryl/diphenhydramine increases the risk of dementia; however, in my clinical neurology practice, I have never observed this to be the case.

Although sleep aids are frequently linked to deteriorating memory loss in the elderly, I think the advantages of getting a good night’s sleep exceed any possible hazards. According to him, there are too many cooks in the kitchen these days, and if dementia is a concern, you should speak with a specialist like me who makes it their career to diagnose and treat dementia patients. The best strategy to lower one’s risk of dementia, according to Segil, is to alter one’s lifestyle, since middle-aged habits shape one’s later years. He informed us that some tests related to the genetics of dementia do not ensure the onset of dementia and that false-positive test results are common. I would suggest leading a healthy lifestyle to prevent the need for a doctor’s prescription medication. If medication is required, I would suggest consulting a board-certified neurologist for guidance on which medications to take as you age.

Over 55 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, which is estimated to cost more than $1 trillion. Up to 70% of those affected have Alzheimer’s disease, which is typified by the accumulation of two proteins, tau and amyloid. Adults with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease, including those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia with confirmed amyloid plaques, can now receive treatment with the monoclonal antibody donanemab, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July 2024. In 2024, the FDA granted accelerated approval to two additional monoclonal antibodies, lecanemab and aducanumab, after encouraging trial outcomes.

Alzheimer’s disease can be managed with the help of current treatments, but the disease’s progression is unaffected. In a global phase 3 clinical study, donanemab reduced cognitive decline in individuals with low/medium tau levels by 35% when compared to a placebo. There is broad agreement that multiple approaches are likely required to provide maximally effective treatment and the authors of the new review point out that these treatments target a single pathway in a complex condition and carry a significant risk of severe side effects. Although they emphasize that repurposing current medications for potential dementia treatment is a global priority, experts argue that, given the complexity of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, more research is necessary to determine the specific effects of such medications.