Antimycobacterials from natural sources: Ancient times, antibiotic era and novel scaffolds

Juan D. Guzman, Antima Gupta, Franz Bucar, Simon Gibbons, Sanjib Bhakta

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

34 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Mycobacteria are a group of aerobic, non-motile, acid fast bacteria that have a characteristic cell wall composed of a mycolyl-arabinogalactan- peptidoglycan complex. They display different phenotypic attributes in their growth, color and biochemistry. Tuberculosis (TB) is defined as the infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and was declared a global health emergency principally because of the appearance of multidrug-resistant strains and the associated risk of infection in immunecompromised population. There is an urgent clinical need for novel, potent and safe anti-TB drugs. Natural products have been used since antiquity for treating diverse complaints and novel pharmacophores are discovered every year. Two of the most potent used antimycobacterials, the rifamycins and streptomycin, were first detected in Streptomyces bacteria. Plants are also the source of an exquisite variety of antimicrobials that can lead to useful therapeutics in the future. In this review, natural preparations used since antiquity for treating tuberculosis are described, together with a rapid view of the 20th century antibiotic development against TB. Finally a summary of the most potent recent natural antimycobacterials is displayed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1861-1881
Number of pages21
JournalFrontiers in Bioscience
Volume17
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2012

Keywords

  • Antibiotics
  • Antimycobacterials
  • MIC
  • Natural products
  • Review
  • SI
  • TB

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