Medicine at Nanoscale: A New Paradigm for the Emerging Trend of Multidrug Resistance in Bacteria

Abstract

Antibiotic therapy for life-threatening bacterial infections has greatly enhanced the lifespan and health of human beings. But continued increase in the improper usage of antibiotics and emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria (MDR) remains a major reason for the morbidity and mortality worldwide. Delay in the detection of pathogens, poor penetration power of the antimicrobial agent, and susceptibility for mutational resistance also resulted in clinical failure of conventional antibiotics. Innovation of nanoparticles (NPs) serves as a promising strategy to overcome MDR bacteria. The site-specific action of NPs, high penetration power, minimal dosage, and multidimensional mechanism makes NPs highly efficient to tackle MDR bacteria than conventional drugs. This chapter presents a brief overview on various types of NPs, strategies to combat drug resistance, mode of action of NPs as antibacterial agents, applicability in various medical fields, clinical manifestation, challenges in clinical translation, and future prospects.