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Review
. 2024 Mar 11;10(6):e27984.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27984. eCollection 2024 Mar 30.

Unraveling resistance mechanisms in combination therapy: A comprehensive review of recent advances and future directions

Nami Morales-Durán  1   2 , Angel León-Buitimea  1   2 , José R Morones-Ramírez  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Unraveling resistance mechanisms in combination therapy: A comprehensive review of recent advances and future directions

Nami Morales-Durán et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is a global health threat. Misuse and overuse of antimicrobials are the main drivers in developing drug-resistant bacteria. The emergence of the rapid global spread of multi-resistant bacteria requires urgent multisectoral action to generate novel treatment alternatives. Combination therapy offers the potential to exploit synergistic effects for enhanced antibacterial efficacy of drugs. Understanding the complex dynamics and kinetics of drug interactions in combination therapy is crucial. Therefore, this review outlines the current advances in antibiotic resistance's evolutionary and genetic dynamics in combination therapies-exposed bacteria. Moreover, we also discussed four pivotal future research areas to comprehend better the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria treated with combination strategies.

Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; Combination therapy; Monotherapies; Multi-resistant bacteria.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Four pivotal future research areas (Microbial Ecology, Microbial Evolution, Pharmacology, and Bioinformatics) to better comprehend the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria treated with combination strategies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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