The discovery of antibiotics is considered one of the most crucial breakthroughs in medicine and veterinary science in the 20th century. From the very beginning, this type of drug was used as a ‘miraculous cure’ for every type of infection. In addition to their therapeutic uses, antibiotics were also used for disease prevention and growth promotion in livestock. Though this application was banned in the European Union in 2006, antibiotics are still used in this way in countries all over the world. The unlimited and unregulated use of antibiotics has increased the speed of antibiotic resistance’s spread in different types of organisms. This phenomenon requires searching for new strategies to deal with hard-to-treat infections. The antimicrobial activity of some plant derivatives and animal products has been known since ancient times. At the beginning of this century, even more substances, such as antimicrobial peptides, were considered very promising candidates for becoming new alternatives to commonly used antimicrobials. However, many preclinical and clinical trials ended without positive results. A variety of strategies to fight microbes exist, but we are a long way from approving them as therapies. This review begins with the discovery of antibiotics, covers the modes of action of select antimicrobials, and ends with a literature review of the newest potential alternative approaches to overcoming the drug resistance phenomenon.

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克服细菌对抗生素的耐药性：迫切需要–综述

抗生素的发现被认为是20世纪医学和兽医学领域最重要的突破之一。从一开始，这种药物就被用作每种感染的“奇迹疗法”。除了治疗用途外，抗生素还用于牲畜的疾病预防和生长促进。尽管该应用已于2006年在欧盟被禁止，但抗生素在世界各地的国家中仍以这种方式使用。无限和无管制地使用抗生素提高了抗生素抗性在不同类型生物中的传播速度。这种现象需要寻找新的策略来应对难以治疗的感染。自古以来就已知道某些植物衍生物和动物产品的抗菌活性。在本世纪初，甚至更多的物质，例如抗菌肽，被认为是成为常用抗菌剂的新替代品的非常有希望的候选者。但是，许多临床前和临床试验均未获得积极结果。存在多种与微生物作斗争的策略，但是距离批准它们作为疗法还有很长的路要走。这项综述从发现抗生素开始，涵盖了选择的抗菌药物的作用方式，最后以文献综述方式对克服药物耐药现象的最新潜在替代方法进行了综述。许多临床前和临床试验均未取得积极结果。存在多种与微生物作斗争的策略，但是距离批准它们作为疗法还有很长的路要走。这项综述从发现抗生素开始，涵盖了选择的抗菌药物的作用方式，最后以文献综述方式对克服药物耐药现象的最新潜在替代方法进行了综述。许多临床前和临床试验均未取得积极结果。存在多种与微生物作斗争的策略，但是距离批准它们作为疗法还有很长的路要走。这项综述从发现抗生素开始，涵盖了选择的抗菌药物的作用方式，最后以文献综述方式对克服药物耐药现象的最新潜在替代方法进行了综述。