Pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and other microbes constantly change to ensure survival. Several pathogens have adopted strict and intricate strategies to fight medical treatments. Many drugs, frequently prescribed to treat these pathogens, are becoming obsolete and ineffective. Because pathogens have gained the capacity to tolerate or resist medications targeted at them, hence the term antimicrobial resistance (AMR), in that regard, many natural compounds have been routinely used as new antimicrobial agents to treat infections. Thus, plant lectins, the carbohydrate-binding proteins, have been targeted as promising drug candidates. This article reviewed more than 150 published papers on plant lectins with promising antibacterial and antifungal properties. We have also demonstrated how some plant lectins could express a synergistic action as adjuvants to boost the efficacy of obsolete or abandoned antimicrobial drugs. Emphasis has also been given to their plausible mechanism of action. The study further reports on the immunomodulatory effect of plant lectins and how they boost the immune system to curb or prevent infection.

病原菌、病毒、真菌、寄生虫和其他微生物不断变化以确保生存。几种病原体已采取严格而复杂的策略来对抗医学治疗。许多经常用于治疗这些病原体的药物正变得过时且无效。由于病原体已经获得了耐受或抵抗针对它们的药物的能力，因此术语抗菌素耐药性 (AMR) 在这方面，许多天然化合物已常规用作治疗感染的新抗菌剂。因此，植物凝集素，即碳水化合物结合蛋白，已成为有希望的候选药物。本文回顾了 150 多篇关于植物凝集素的已发表论文，这些植物凝集素具有良好的抗菌和抗真菌特性。我们还展示了一些植物凝集素如何作为佐剂表达协同作用，以提高过时或废弃的抗菌药物的功效。还强调了它们似是而非的作用机制。该研究进一步报告了植物凝集素的免疫调节作用以及它们如何增强免疫系统以抑制或预防感染。