The Antimicrobial and Antivirulent Effects of Natural Products and Their Nanoparticles

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Novel Antimicrobial Agents".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 8417

Special Issue Editors

School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: biofilm; foodborne microorganisms; antimicrobial resistance; pathogenicity and virulence; stress response; quorum sensing; polymicrobial interaction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI), Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), 30 Medical Drive, Singapore 117609, Singapore
Interests: phytochemicals; probiotics; prebiotics; gut microbiota; nutrition; functional food
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
Interests: polyphenols; flavonoids; antibacterial effect; gut microbiota
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
South African Medical Research Council Centre for Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa
Interests: drug discovery; bioorganic chemistry; mycochemistry; anti-mycobacterial agents; nanoparticles

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Many natural products exhibit antimicrobial and antivirulent effects and have been considered potential alternatives to antibiotics. Therefore, understanding the antimicrobial and antivirulent effects of natural products (e.g., phytochemicals, essential oils, polysaccharides, and bioactive peptides/proteins) and their underlying mechanisms of action can provide a scientific basis for their further applications as antibiotic alternatives. Coupled to this are advances in knowledge and applications of different nanoparticles, including lipid-based, polymer-based, carbohydrate-based, protein-based, metal-based, nucleic-acid-based nanoparticles, etc., to encapsulate natural compounds to derive enhanced and targeted therapeutic effects. 

This Special Issue seeks manuscript submissions that improve our understanding of the antimicrobial and antivirulent effects of natural products and their nanoparticle equivalents. Manuscripts about the discovery of novel antimicrobial and antivirulent natural products (e.g., flavonoids, terpenoids, and alkaloids, essential oils, polysaccharides, peptides, and proteins), the establishment of natural product-based nanoparticles, their in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial and antivirulent effects, as well as related molecular mechanisms, and their potential applications, such as in food and medicine, are welcome for submission.

Prof. Dr. Zhenbo Xu
Prof. Dr. Ren-You Gan
Prof. Dr. Huabin Li
Dr. Vuyo Mavumengwana
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural compounds
  • nanoparticles
  • bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects
  • antivirulent effects
  • anti-biofilm
  • quorum sensing suppression
  • mechanisms of action
  • applications

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

45 pages, 1689 KiB  
Review
Nanoparticles—Attractive Carriers of Antimicrobial Essential Oils
by Arya Nair, Rashmi Mallya, Vasanti Suvarna, Tabassum Asif Khan, Munira Momin and Abdelwahab Omri
Antibiotics 2022, 11(1), 108; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11010108 - 14 Jan 2022
Cited by 47 | Viewed by 7671
Abstract
Microbial pathogens are the most prevalent cause of chronic infections and fatalities around the world. Antimicrobial agents including antibiotics have been frequently utilized in the treatment of infections due to their exceptional outcomes. However, their widespread use has resulted in the emergence of [...] Read more.
Microbial pathogens are the most prevalent cause of chronic infections and fatalities around the world. Antimicrobial agents including antibiotics have been frequently utilized in the treatment of infections due to their exceptional outcomes. However, their widespread use has resulted in the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. Furthermore, due to inherent resistance to antimicrobial drugs and the host defence system, the advent of new infectious diseases, chronic infections, and the occurrence of biofilms pose a tougher challenge to the current treatment line. Essential oils (EOs) and their biologically and structurally diverse constituents provide a distinctive, inexhaustible, and novel source of antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antiparasitic agents. However, due to their volatile nature, chemical susceptibility, and poor solubility, their development as antimicrobials is limited. Nanoparticles composed of biodegradable polymeric and inorganic materials have been studied extensively to overcome these limitations. Nanoparticles are being investigated as nanocarriers for antimicrobial delivery, antimicrobial coatings for food products, implantable devices, and medicinal materials in dressings and packaging materials due to their intrinsic capacity to overcome microbial resistance. Essential oil-loaded nanoparticles may offer the potential benefits of synergism in antimicrobial activity, high loading capacity, increased solubility, decreased volatility, chemical stability, and enhancement of the bioavailability and shelf life of EOs and their constituents. This review focuses on the potentiation of the antimicrobial activity of essential oils and their constituents in nanoparticulate delivery systems for a wide range of applications, such as food preservation, packaging, and alternative treatments for infectious diseases. Full article
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