Plant - based antibiotic adjuvants - A roadmap to combat antibiotic resistance.

Abstract

Multidrug-resistant bacteria have now emerged as a global threat due to the emergence of new or re-emergence of old pathogens. This alarming situation demands either to find new/modified effective antibiotics or alternatives to reduce the overall load of infectious diseases both in the veterinary and public domain. Antibiotic adjuvants are non-antibiotic compounds that potentiate the existing antibiotic activity. The Himalayan region being a big basket and hot spot of biodiversity, inhabiting a diverse flora of medicinal plants/herbs can be evaluated for antibiotic adjuvants. These adjuvants work either by blocking the main bacterial resistance mechanisms or enhancing the antimicrobial action of

the drug. The adjuvants assist in polypharmacy on bacteria by de- energizing the efflux pump channel of bacteria to escape

antibiotic action and by allowing antibiotics to have greater internal access. Thus, the plant-based antibiotic adjuvants have the potency to re-empower the existing antibiotics, restoring their activities against target pathogen that too with minimal side effects/toxicity being natural in origin.