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Review
. 2022 Dec 12:10:1051456.
doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.1051456. eCollection 2022.

Advances and perspectives for antimicrobial peptide and combinatory therapies

Santos C  1 , Rodrigues G R  2 , Lima L F  2 , Dos Reis M C G  2 , Cunha N B  2   3 , Dias S C  2   4 , Franco O L  1   2   5
Affiliations
Review

Advances and perspectives for antimicrobial peptide and combinatory therapies

Santos C et al. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. .

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have shown cell membrane-directed mechanisms of action. This specificity can be effective against infectious agents that have acquired resistance to conventional drugs. The AMPs' membrane-specificity and their great potential to combat resistant microbes has brought hope to the medical/therapeutic scene. The high death rate worldwide due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has pushed forward the search for new molecules and product developments, mainly antibiotics. In the current scenario, other strategies including the association of two or more drugs have contributed to the treatment of difficult-to-treat infectious diseases, above all, those caused by bacteria. In this context, the synergistic action of AMPs associated with current antibiotic therapy can bring important results for the production of new and effective drugs to overcome AMR. This review presents the advances obtained in the last 5 years in medical/antibiotic therapy, with the use of products based on AMPs, as well as perspectives on the potentialized effects of current drugs combined with AMPs for the treatment of bacterial infectious diseases.

Keywords: antibiotic-therapy combination; antimicrobial resistance; infection medication; infectious diseases; synergic effect.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The handling editor declared a past co-authorship with the author CS.

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