Abstract
The global surge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major concern for public health and proving to be a key challenge in modern disease treatment, requiring action plans at all levels. Microorganisms regularly and rapidly acquire resistance to antibiotic treatments and new drugs are continuously required. However, the inherent cost and risk to develop such molecules has resulted in a drying of the pipeline with very few compounds currently in development. Over the last two decades, efforts have been made to tackle the main sources of AMR. Nevertheless, these require the involvement of large governmental bodies, further increasing the complexity of the problem. As a group with a long innovation history, the biomaterials community is perfectly situated to push forward novel antimicrobial technologies to combat AMR. Although this involvement has been felt, it is necessary to ensure that the field offers a united front with special focus in areas that will facilitate the development and implementation of such systems. This paper reviews state of the art biomaterials strategies striving to limit AMR. Promising broad-spectrum antimicrobials and device modifications are showcased through two case studies for different applications, namely topical and implantables, demonstrating the potential for a highly efficacious physical and chemical approach. Finally, a critical review on barriers and limitations of these methods has been developed to provide a list of short and long-term focus areas in order to ensure the full potential of the biomaterials community is directed to helping tackle the AMR pandemic.
Highlights
Antibiotics are a precious resource capable of targeting microbial infections with little impact on endogenous human cells
This review focuses on steps that the biomaterials community, as a key field of innovation for antimicrobial substances, may take to help tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
With prospects of a post-antibiotic era on the horizon, numerous organizations have focused their efforts on unearthing the causes behind such phenomena, with both bacterial and human causes identified
Summary
Antibiotics are a precious resource capable of targeting microbial infections with little impact on endogenous human cells. Since the discovery of penicillin, antibiotics have been coined ‘wonder drugs’, helping to save hundreds of millions of people.[1,2] Today the use of antibiotics is broad and encompasses almost every aspect of our society, including healthcare, the food industry and agriculture. This makes it difficult to imagine a world devoid of such fundamental substances. As microorganisms continue to develop resistance mechanisms to the use of antibiotics, termed antimicrobial resistance (AMR), this future may become a reality. This includes a rise in the spread of resistance to widely used antibiotics such as vancomycin in Enterococci and an increasing number of pan-drug resistant pathogens.[3,4,5]
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