Use of adjuvants in the treatment of Acinetobacter baumannii

ABSTRACT

The current antibiotic crisis to treat infections by Acinetobacter baumannii is linked with the increase of antimicrobial resistance and the lack of development of new antimicrobial drugs. For this reason, new alternatives for the treatment and control of infections by A. baumannii are necessary. Several studies have reported the effect of adjuvants to restore the efficacy of existing antimicrobial agents. Herein, we analyzed the main results on the development of adjuvant drugs, as monotherapy or in combination therapy with existing antimicrobial agents, which have shown promising results in vitro and in vivo. However, caution is needed and further extensive in vivo studies have to be performed to confirm the potential use of these adjuvants as true therapeutic alternatives.

KEYWORDS:

• Acinetobacter baumannii
• antimicrobial resistance
• adjuvant antibiotics

Financial & competing interest disclosure

Younes Smani is supported by Plan Nacional de I+D+i and Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Subdirección General de Redes y Centros de Investigación Cooperativa, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI RD12/0015/0001), co-financed by European Development Regional Fund “A way to achieve Europe” ERDF. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Jerónimo Pachón

Clinical Unit of Infectious Diseases, microbiology, and Preventive Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS), University Hospital Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/University of Seville, Seville, Spain

Younes Smani

Clinical Unit of Infectious Diseases, microbiology, and Preventive Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS), University Hospital Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/University of Seville, Seville, Spain

CONTACT Younes smani [email protected], [email protected] Unidad Clínica de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Microbiología y Medicina Preventiva. Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío. Av. Manuel Siurot s/n. 41013 Seville, Spain.

María Eugenia Pachón-Ibáñez

Clinical Unit of Infectious Diseases, microbiology, and Preventive Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS), University Hospital Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/University of Seville, Seville, Spain