[Bacterial efflux pumps - their role in antibiotic resistance and potential inhibitors].

Efflux pumps capable of actively draining antibiotic agents from bacterial cells may be considered one of potential mechanisms of the development of antimicrobial resistance. The most important group of efflux pumps capable of removing several types of antibiotics include RND (resistance - nodulation - division) pumps. These are three proteins that cross the bacterial cell wall, allowing direct expulsion of the agent out from the bacterial cell. The most investigated efflux pumps are the AcrAB-TolC system in Escherichia coli and the MexAB-OprM system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Moreover, efflux pumps are able to export other than antibacterial agents such as disinfectants, thus decreasing their effectiveness. One potential approach to inactivation of an efflux pump is to use the so-called efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs). Potential inhibitors tested in vitro involve, for example, phenylalanyl-arginyl-b-naphthylamide (PAbN), carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) or agents of the phenothiazine class.