Revolutionizing biomedicine: Metal-organic frameworks combating multi-drug resistance

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as one of the major risks to public health, seriously compromising efforts to prevent and treat chronic diseases. The trends of global AMR show no evidence of slowing down, despite various measures implemented in the past few decades. The main causes of the rise of resistant bacteria are thought to be the misuse and overuse of various antimicrobial drugs in the healthcare sector as well as in the agricultural business. One of the key strategies to combat AMR is the creation of new antimicrobial agents. When pitted against the capacity for the evolution of multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria, it indicates that the science world is lagging behind in the race to develop alternative strategies to fight AMR. AMR has been listed as among the top ten worldwide public health threats. There is no perfect cure, and the drawbacks of current approaches call for more advancement in the field of antimicrobials. Recent advancements in nanotechnology position them as hopeful therapeutics and a powerful substitute for synthetic drugs and traditional antibiotics. The antimicrobial category recently gained better properties of the metal–organic framework (MOF). Many MOFs are biocompatible and have antimicrobial effects on a variety of species due to their porous architecture which also enables them to carry biomolecules and medications for synergistic antimicrobial effects. This feature letter discusses the causes as well as implications of AMR and also offers insight into a novel-emerging class of mesoporous nanostructures of MOF as the potential candidate to combat the spread of AMR.