Alkatheri, Asma H., Alameri, Salma S., Abushelaibi, Aisha, Loh, Jiun Yan, Cheng, Wan Hee, Molouki, Aidin, Thomas, Warren, Lai, Kok Song, and Lim, Swee Hua E. (2025) Plants from forest to bench to bedside: the clinical application of botanical antimicrobial compounds. Minerva Biotechnology and Biomolecular Research, 37 (1). pp. 48-58.

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Abstract

The inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics has contributed to the rapid development of antibiotic-resistant microbes, resulting in the return of many previously controlled bacterial infections with enhanced resistance to once effective treatments. With the declining efficacy of antibiotics, many health organizations are urgently striving to understand the causes of resistance development, and to find ways to mitigate this grave threat to global health. The rapid transfer of microbial resistance through and between pathogenic species and the lack of a strategic management plan to deal with the loss of antibiotic efficacy have driven researchers to look for new sources of antibiotics. Plant extracts are one of the most important potential sources of novel antibiotics because plants have been used effectively to treat human infections throughout history. Substances extracted from plants contribute to their defense against bacterial pathogens, and so such substances also have the potential to confer protection against infection in humans. The application of novel antibiotics extracted from plants has not yet been achieved in the modern clinical environment despite their use in traditional medicine, and there are no plant-extract derived antibiotics approved for sale. This review examines clinical trial studies investigating the antibiotic properties of plant extracts. We highlight the main problems in the development and application of new antimicrobial agents.

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