title: Development of broad-spectrum antibiofilm drugs: strategies and challenges.
abstract: The severity of many chronic bacterial infections is mainly due to the biofilm mode of life adapted by pathogenic bacteria. The bacteria in biofilm-stage exhibit high resistance to host immune responses and antimicrobials, which complicates the treatment process and results in life threatening conditions. Most of the chronic infections are polymicrobial in nature. In order to combat the polymicrobial biofilm infections and to increase the efficiency of antimicrobials, there is an urgent need for broad-spectrum antibiofilm drugs. This review discusses the clinical needs and current status of broad-spectrum antibiofilm drugs with special emphasis on prospective strategies and hurdles in the process of new drug discovery.
authors.affiliation: Cholera & Biofilm Research Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 014, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Akhilandeswarre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dharmaprakash
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases (NICED), Kolkata - 700010, India.
authors.forename: Ramamurthy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thandavarayan
authors.affiliation: Pathogen Biology Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 014, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Iype
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.affiliation: Cholera & Biofilm Research Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 014, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Sabu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects*; D055808:Drug Discovery / Q000639:trends*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: biofilm; broad-spectrum antibiofilm drugs; chronic infection; drug discovery; drug target identification; polymicrobial