Infectious Diseases: Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment Under Antimicrobial Resistance Global Urgency

A special issue of Biomedicines (ISSN 2227-9059). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbiology in Human Health and Disease".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 624

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. 1H-TOXRUN—One Health Toxicology Research Unit, CESPU-IUCS, Gandra, Portugal
2. LEPABE—Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Interests: biofilms; fungal and bacterial infections; resistance to antimicrobials; microfluidics; pathogens detection; alternative therapies; surface functionalization of biomaterials
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) presents an urgent global challenge in the fight against infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Once-treatable infections are now becoming harder to manage as pathogens have evolved to resist common antimicrobial agents. This growing threat calls for a holistic approach for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Prevention is the frontline defense in slowing the spread of resistant infections. Vaccination programs, improved hygiene, and strict infection control measures are essential in reducing transmission, while public health campaigns encourage responsible antibiotic use. In both healthcare and agriculture, limiting unnecessary antibiotic exposure is critical to slowing resistance. Rapid, precise diagnostic tools are needed to accurately identify infections, distinguishing between bacterial, fungal, or viral origins. This allows for more targeted treatments, reducing the misuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics, which drive resistance.

As AMR spreads, the available treatments become increasingly complex. The shrinking effectiveness of existing antimicrobials emphasizes the need for new drugs and alternative therapies. Research into combination therapies, natural compounds, phage therapy, and innovative immunotherapies holds promise for treating resistant infections. In the meantime, antibiotic stewardship programs help optimize the use of current treatments, ensuring that they remain effective for as long as possible.

The AMR crisis demands global cooperation across sectors, from healthcare to agriculture, to safeguard the future of infectious disease management. We can only prevent a post-antibiotic era from becoming a reality through a coordinated, multidisciplinary effort. This Special Issue aims to focus on all these key points.

Dr. Célia F. Rodrigues
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • AMR
  • infectious diseases
  • bacteria
  • fungi
  • alternative treatment

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 1709 KiB  
Article
Intra- and Interspecies Conjugal Transfer of Plasmids in Gram-Negative Bacteria
by Julia R. Savelieva, Daria A. Kondratieva and Maria V. Golikova
Biomedicines 2025, 13(1), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13010238 - 20 Jan 2025
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Abstract
Background/Objectives: Plasmid-mediated resistance is a significant mechanism that contributes to the gradual decrease in the efficacy of antibiotics from various classes, including carbapenems. The aim of this study is to investigate the frequency of transfer of carbapenemase-encoding plasmids from K. pneumoniae to E. [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Plasmid-mediated resistance is a significant mechanism that contributes to the gradual decrease in the efficacy of antibiotics from various classes, including carbapenems. The aim of this study is to investigate the frequency of transfer of carbapenemase-encoding plasmids from K. pneumoniae to E. coli and P. aeruginosa. Methods: Matings were performed on agar with subsequent isolation of transconjugant, recipient, and donor colonies. The frequency of conjugation (CF) and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of meropenem were determined for the PCR-confirmed transconjugants. A pharmacodynamic study was conducted using a hollow-fiber infection model on E. coli transconjugant in order to evaluate its viability in the presence of therapeutic concentrations of meropenem. Results: CF for K. pneumoniae-K. pneumoniae was similar to that for K. pneumoniae-E. coli and was higher the higher was meropenem MIC of the K. pneumoniae donor. The meropenem MICs for K. pneumoniae and E. coli transconjugants were higher (0.25–4 μg/mL) compared to recipients (0.03–0.06 μg/mL). P. aeruginosa did not acquire plasmids from K. pneumoniae. In pharmacodynamic experiments, an E. coli transconjugant with MIC of 2 mg/L within the “susceptibility range”, failed to respond to meropenem treatment. Conclusions: The frequency of conjugation between K. pneumoniae and E. coli falls within a similar range. A higher permissiveness of K. pneumoniae for plasmids from K. pneumoniae, i.e., within the same species, was observed. Conjugation did not occur between K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa. The transconjugants with meropenem MICs with borderline susceptibility may pose a potential threat to the efficacy of meropenem. Full article
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