Plant‐derived virulence arresting drugs as novel antimicrobial agents: Discovery, perspective, and challenges in clinical use

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) emerges as a severe crisis to public health and requires global action. The occurrence of bacterial pathogens with multi‐drug resistance appeals to exploring alternative therapeutic strategies. Antivirulence treatment has been a positive substitute in seeking to circumvent AMR, which aims to target virulence factors directly to combat bacterial infections. Accumulated evidence suggests that plant‐derived natural products, which have been utilized to treat infectious diseases for centuries, can be abundant sources for screening potential virulence‐arresting drugs (VADs) to develop advanced therapeutics for infectious diseases. This review sums up some virulence factors and their actions in various species of bacteria, as well as recent advances pertaining to plant‐derived natural products as VAD candidates. Furthermore, we also discuss natural VAD‐related clinical trials and patents, the perspective of VAD‐based advanced therapeutics for infectious diseases and critical challenges hampering clinical use of VADs, and genomics‐guided identification for VAD therapeutic. These newly discovered natural VADs will be encouraging and optimistic candidates that may sustainably combat AMR.