Abstract
The worldwide emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the thread of widespread superbug infections have led researchers to constantly look for novel effective antimicrobial agents. Within the past two decades, there has been an increase in studies attempting to discover molecules with innovative properties against pathogenic bacteria, notably by disrupting mechanisms of bacterial virulence and/or biofilm formation which are both regulated by the cell-to-cell communication mechanism called ‘quorum sensing’ (QS). Certainly, targeting the virulence of bacteria and their capacity to form biofilms, without affecting their viability, may contribute to reduce their pathogenicity, allowing sufficient time for an immune response to infection and a reduction in the use of antibiotics. African plants, through their huge biodiversity, present a considerable reservoir of secondary metabolites with a very broad spectrum of biological activities, a potential source of natural products targeting such non-microbicidal mechanisms. The present paper aims to provide an overview on two main aspects: (i) succinct presentation of bacterial virulence and biofilm formation as well as their entanglement through QS mechanisms and (ii) detailed reports on African plant extracts and isolated compounds with antivirulence properties against particular pathogenic bacteria.
Highlights
Antimicrobial resistance, increasingly observed within a wide range of pathogenic bacteria, has become a worldwide threat to public health [1,2]
The search for antivirulence activities have been shyly initiated since the last decade; by contrast, there has been a wide research on conventional antimicrobial activities of African plants over the past 30 years [77,78,79]
African plants investigated for antivirulence activities are diverse, very few studies have resulted in the characterization of the active compound(s), suggesting that this investigation is only beginning, which highlights a huge potential for new substances still to be discovered
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance, increasingly observed within a wide range of pathogenic bacteria, has become a worldwide threat to public health [1,2]. Whenever new antimicrobial compounds would be discovered, their use will result in selective pressures, probably leading targeted bacteria to develop a resistance to these agents. This likely outcome stirs researchers to consider other strategies, notably based on the search for Antibiotics 2020, 9, 0830; doi:10.3390/antibiotics9110830 www.mdpi.com/journal/antibiotics. Antibiotics 2020, 9, 0830 original compounds that impair virulence expression mechanisms and/or biofilm formation without affecting bacterial viability [6,7] Striking such targets will likely impact invasion capabilities and aggressiveness of bacteria, as well as their ability to build protective barriers against host immune defenses or antibiotics; all the while, selective pressure would be minimized [8], most probably preventing or slowing down the apparition and spread of resistances. The literature has been collected from electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect until August 2020, using relevant keywords including “african medicinal plants, extracts, natural products, virulence, quorum quenching, quorum sensing, biofilm”, and their combination
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