Abstract
Indiscriminate and irrational use of antibiotics has created an unprecedented challenge for human civilization due to microbe’s development of antimicrobial resistance. It is difficult to treat bacterial infection due to bacteria’s ability to develop resistance against antimicrobial agents. Antimicrobial agents are categorized according to their mechanism of action, i.e., interference with cell wall synthesis, DNA and RNA synthesis, lysis of the bacterial membrane, inhibition of protein synthesis, inhibition of metabolic pathways, etc. Bacteria may become resistant by antibiotic inactivation, target modification, efflux pump and plasmidic efflux. Currently, the clinically available treatment is not effective against the antibiotic resistance developed by some bacterial species. However, plant-based antimicrobials have immense potential to combat bacterial, fungal, protozoal and viral diseases without any known side effects. Such plant metabolites include quinines, alkaloids, lectins, polypeptides, flavones, flavonoids, flavonols, coumarin, terpenoids, essential oils and tannins. The present review focuses on antibiotic resistance, the resistance mechanism in bacteria against antibiotics and the role of plant-active secondary metabolites against microorganisms, which might be useful as an alternative and effective strategy to break the resistance among microbes.
Highlights
The problem of antibiotic resistance is not limited to the Indian subcontinent only, but is a global problem
The discovery and development of the antibiotic penicillin during the 1900s gave a certain hope to medical science, but this antibiotic soon became ineffective against most of the susceptible bacteria
The indiscriminate and irrational use of antibiotics these days has led to the evolution of new resistant strains of bacteria that are somewhat more lethal compared to the parent strain
Summary
The problem of antibiotic resistance is not limited to the Indian subcontinent only, but is a global problem. Plants 2017, 6, 16 these resistant bacteria is so rapid that the effectiveness of common antibiotics may be lost within a period of 5 years [2]. Researchers are in search of some novel antimicrobial molecules which have a broad spectrum of activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria without having many or any side effects. They are exploring the variety of medicinal plants which are described in Ayurveda, Charak Samhita, Sushrut Samhita and other literatures available in their respective countries. Acalypha indica, Adhatoda vasica, Aloe vera and Allium cepa are reported to have antituberculosis activity [7]
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