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Updated: Jul 15, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancing Antibiotic Resistance Research Using an Efflux-Deficient Bacterial Strain and a Single-Copy Gene Expression System
05:06

Author Spotlight: Advancing Antibiotic Resistance Research Using an Efflux-Deficient Bacterial Strain and a Single-Copy Gene Expression System

Published on: January 5, 2024

640

Advances in the Discovery of Efflux Pump Inhibitors as Novel Potentiators to Control Antimicrobial-Resistant

Song Zhang1, Jun Wang2, Juhee Ahn1,3

  • 1Department of Biomedical Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea.

Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)
|September 28, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Novel antibiotic potentiators, like efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs), can combat multidrug-resistant pathogens. Combining EPIs with antibiotics offers a promising strategy to overcome antibiotic resistance challenges in clinical and food settings.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Pharmacology
  • Drug Discovery

Background:

  • Excessive antibiotic use drives multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogen emergence in clinical and agricultural settings.
  • A decline in new antimicrobial discovery limits treatment options for bacterial infections.
  • Antibiotic resistance poses a significant global health and food safety challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review advances in novel antibiotic potentiator discovery, focusing on efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs).
  • To explore the mechanisms by which EPIs restore antimicrobial activity.
  • To highlight plant-derived EPIs as potential adjuvants for combating MDR pathogens.

Main Methods:

  • Comprehensive literature review of novel EPI discovery and mechanisms.
  • Analysis of studies demonstrating the efficacy of antibiotic-EPI combinations.
  • Characterization of plant-derived compounds as potential EPIs.

Main Results:

  • Efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) combined with antibiotics effectively inhibit MDR pathogens.
  • Novel EPIs restore the activity of existing antibiotics against resistant strains.
  • Plant-derived compounds show potential as novel EPIs.

Conclusions:

  • Novel EPIs represent a promising strategy to potentiate existing antibiotics and overcome MDR pathogens.
  • Combining antibiotics with EPIs offers a viable approach to manage bacterial infections and foodborne illnesses.
  • Further research into EPIs, particularly plant-derived ones, is crucial for developing new treatments against antibiotic resistance.
Keywords:
antibiotic resistancebiofilm formationcombination therapyefflux pump inhibitormultidrug efflux pump

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