ABSTRACT
The discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century has brought a paradigm shift in our efforts to treat chronic microbial infections. Undoubtedly, antibiotics have dramatically reduced the risk of mortality and morbidity, and improved our life expectancy; but antibiotics’ irrational and indiscriminate use to tackle microbial infections leads to antimicrobial resistance. In the last few decades, the phenomenon of resistance in microorganisms towards antimicrobial drugs has become a global health issue. Hence, it is imperative to develop alternative therapeutic modules to combat the severity of antimicrobial drug resistance. The quorum-sensing (QS) pathway, biofilm dynamics, and efflux pump activation in pathogenic microorganisms are responsible for inferring antimicrobial drug resistance; therefore, targeting these mechanistic pathways could be an alternative and effective therapeutic approach for combating the severity of drug resistance. In the first phase of this chapter, the conventional modalities for mitigating drug resistance is discussed. In the second phase, the chapter critically discussed several plant-derived phytochemicals to mitigate QS-associated pathways, biofilm mechanics, and efflux pump activation. Next, the chapter confers recent aspects on antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) and its possible role in attenuating drug resistance patterns in microbial pathogens. Finally, the chapter critically evaluates the current developments in drug repurposing, in silico and OMICS-based approaches for efficiently managing drug resistance phenomena.
