Mechanisms and Possible Strategies to Fight Against the Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is a major concern for people nowadays. Apart from human-caused resistance, bacteria can develop self-resistance to antibiotics through a variety of mechanisms such as drug degradation, efflux, sequestration and target change. Due to resistance, the number of people infected with multidrug-resistant bacteria as well as the death toll is increasing every year which has led to enhanced economic cost. To ameliorate public health and keep our planet safe, it is high time to take proper action against the problem. Technological advancement could greatly assist in this aspect. Fragment-Based Drug Discovery (FBDD) and drug repurposing are such kinds of novel approaches that rely on advanced biophysical computational methods. While, FBDD uses a fragment library to identify potent molecules, drug repurposing mostly depends on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs. Another important strategy is iron chelation which is also an interesting way of fighting against ABR. This review emphasizes the importance of using advanced technology and novel approaches to address the problem in a more effective way. The combined effort of research for drug development and public health initiatives might be possible solutions to combat the growing antibiotic resistance threat.