Polyamine as a microenvironment factor in resistance to antibiotics

Abstract

One of the main issues in modern medicine is the decrease in the efficacy of antibiotic therapy against resistant microorganisms. The advent of antimicrobial resistance has added significantly to the impact of infectious diseases, in number of infections, as well as added healthcare costs. The development of antibiotic tolerance and resistance is influenced by a variety of environmental variables, and it is important to identify these environmental factors as part of any strategy for combating antibiotic resistance. The review aims to emphasize that biogenic polyamines are one of such environmental cues that impacts the antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The biogenic polyamines can help bacteria acquire resistance to antibiotics either by regulating the level of number of porin channels in the outer membrane, by modifying the outer membrane liposaccharides or by protecting macromolecule from antibiotic stress. Thus, understanding the way polyamines function in bacteria can thus be beneficial while designing the drugs to combat diseases.

Keywords:

• Polyamines
• antibiotic resistance
• porins
• polyamine transporters

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Ramalingaswami fellowship program of the Department of Biotechnology, India under grant BT/RLF/Re-entry/41/2015. AB was supported by the junior research fellowship program of Symbiosis International (Deemed University).