Mahavy Christian Emmanuel, Duez Pierre, ElJaziri Mondher, Rasamiravaka Tsiry
Laboratory of Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Antananarivo, BP 906 Antananarivo 101, Madagascar.
Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
Antibiotics (Basel). 2020 Nov 19;9(11):830. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics9110830.
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.
全球范围内抗生素耐药菌的出现以及广泛的超级细菌感染威胁，促使研究人员不断寻找新型有效的抗菌剂。在过去二十年中，试图发现具有抗病原菌创新特性分子的研究有所增加，特别是通过破坏细菌毒力和/或生物膜形成机制，而这两种机制均受称为“群体感应”（QS）的细胞间通讯机制调控。当然，针对细菌的毒力及其形成生物膜的能力，而不影响其生存能力，可能有助于降低其致病性，为感染的免疫反应留出足够时间，并减少抗生素的使用。非洲植物凭借其丰富的生物多样性，拥有大量具有广泛生物活性的次生代谢产物，是针对此类非杀菌机制的天然产物的潜在来源。本文旨在概述两个主要方面：（i）简要介绍细菌毒力和生物膜形成以及它们通过QS机制的相互关系，（ii）详细报道具有针对特定病原菌的抗毒力特性的非洲植物提取物和分离化合物。
