Natural Product-Based Antimicrobial Modulation
Summary
Natural products encompass a diverse array of plant-derived compounds that can restore or enhance the efficacy of conventional antimicrobial agents. By targeting key resistance mechanisms—such as efflux pumps, enzymatic deactivation and membrane integrity—these natural modulators act as antibiotic adjuvants, lowering the effective dose of drugs and slowing the emergence of multidrug resistance. Efflux pump inhibitors derived from essential oils, terpenes and phenolic compounds prevent the active export of antibiotics, while inhibitors of β-lactamases preserve the activity of β-lactam drugs. Many natural products also disrupt microbial membranes or interfere with virulence factors, thereby sensitising pathogens to existing therapies. Global efforts encompass isolation of bioactive phytochemicals, optimisation through complexation with carriers such as cyclodextrins and systematic screening for synergistic interactions with established antibiotics. As resistance profiles evolve, natural product–based modulation emerges as a flexible and accessible approach that bridges traditional botanical knowledge and modern pharmacology, with significant implications for the treatment of human and animal infections, as well as applications in agriculture and food safety.
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Natural Product-Based Antimicrobial Modulation publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in natural product-based antimicrobial modulation across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Efflux pump: A membrane transporter that expels antimicrobial agents, reducing intracellular drug concentration and contributing to bacterial resistance.
β-Lactamase: An enzyme produced by bacteria that hydrolyses β-lactam antibiotics, rendering them ineffective.
Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC): The lowest concentration of an antimicrobial agent that visibly inhibits microbial growth in vitro.
Synergy: An interaction between two agents where their combined effect exceeds the sum of their individual effects.
Phytochemical: A bioactive chemical compound produced by plants, often responsible for therapeutic properties.
References
- Antibacterial and Inhibitory Activity of Nora and Mepa Efflux Pumps of Estragole Complexed to β-Cyclodextrin (ES/β-CD) In Vitro Against Staphylococcus aureus Bacteria, Molecular Docking and MPO-Based Pharmacokinetics Prediction. Pharmaceutics (2024).
- Antibacterial Activity of the Essential Oil of Piper tuberculatum Jacq. Fruits against Multidrug-Resistant Strains: Inhibition of Efflux Pumps and β-Lactamase. Plants (2023).
- Terpenes as bacterial efflux pump inhibitors: A systematic review. Frontiers in Pharmacology (2022).
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