Global health is increasingly being threatened by the rapid emergence of drug-resistant microbes. The ability of these microbes to form biofilms has further exacerbated the scenario leading to notorious infections that are almost impossible to treat. For addressing this clinical threat, various antimicrobial polymers, polymer-based antimicrobial hydrogels and polymer-coated antimicrobial surfaces have been developed in the recent past. This review aims to discuss such polymer-based antimicrobial strategies with a focus on their current advancement in the field. Antimicrobial polymers, whose designs are inspired from antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), are described with an emphasis on structure–activity analysis. Additionally, antibiofilm activity and in vivo efficacy are delineated to elucidate the real potential of these antimicrobial polymers as possible therapeutics. Antimicrobial hydrogels, prepared from either inherently antimicrobial polymers or biocide-loaded into polymer-derived hydrogel matrix, are elaborated followed by various strategies to engineer polymer-coated antimicrobial surfaces. In the end, the current challenges are accentuated along with future directions for further expansion of the field toward tackling infections and antimicrobial resistance.

中文翻译：

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应对感染和抗药性的聚合物研究的最新进展

耐药菌的迅速出现正日益威胁着全球健康。这些微生物形成生物膜的能力进一步加剧了导致臭名昭著的感染的情况，这种感染几乎是无法治疗的。为了解决该临床威胁，最近已经开发了各种抗微生物聚合物，基于聚合物的抗微生物水凝胶和聚合物涂覆的抗微生物表面。这篇综述旨在讨论此类基于聚合物的抗菌策略，重点是其在该领域的最新进展。描述抗菌聚合物的设计灵感来自抗菌肽（AMPs），并着重于结构活性分析。此外，描绘了抗生物膜活性和体内功效，以阐明这些抗微生物聚合物作为治疗手段的真正潜力。由固有的抗微生物聚合物制备或将杀生物剂加载到聚合物衍生的水凝胶基质中制成的抗微生物水凝胶，经过精心设计，随后提出了各种策略来工程化聚合物涂层的抗微生物表面。最后，当前的挑战以及未来的方向进一步强调了该领域的进一步发展，以应对感染和抗菌素耐药性。