Alternatives of antibiotics

1. P R E S E N T E D B Y : - N A V E E N D A G A R
( B . P H A R M A C Y )
Antibiotics and their
Alternatives

2. Antibiotics
• Antibiotics are drugs that treats microbial infections
by killing microorganism.
• Example :
a. Amoxicillin
b. ciprofloxacin
c. clindamycin
d. azithromycin etc.

3. Some common infections treated with
antibiotics
a. Acne
b. Bronchitis
c. Conjunctivitis
d. Respiratory track infection
e. Urinary track infection

4. Advantages
 Effective against many forms of diseases.
 Can kill the bacteria within the body.
 Can be used broadly by all age groups.
 Selectively toxic to the microorganisms.
 Narrow and Broad spectrum.

5. Disadvantages
 Prolonged use causes development of antibiotic –
resistance pathogens.
 Cross resistance to the drug of same class.
 Can kill the healthy bacteria in the body.
 Our body may lose some of the beneficial mutualistic
bacteria.
 Side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, digestion
issues, sensitivity to the light etc.
 Some antibiotics induce the hyper-sensitivity.

6. Alternatives for the Antibiotics
Disease Prevention
 Vaccines
 Probiotics, prebiotics,
synbiotics
Disease Treatment
 Phage therapy
 Endolysins or Exolysins
 Bacteriocins
Predatory bacteria

7. Vaccines
A vaccine typically
contains an agent that
resembles a disease-
causing microorganism
and is often made from
weakened or killed
forms of the microbe,
its toxins, or one of its
surface proteins.

8. Vaccines
Advantages :
 Prevent infections of viruses and bacteria
 Promote specific immunological protection
Limitations :
 Can be costly to administer to human or animal population
 Limited cross-protection with some pathogens

9. Prebiotics
 Prebiotic : Prebiotics are mostly fibers that are non-digestible food
ingredients and beneficially affect the host’s health by selectively
stimulating the growth and/or activity of some genera of
microorganisms in the colon.
 Prebiotics like insulin and pectin exhibit exert several health benefits
like :
 Reducing the prevalence and duration of diarrhea
 Relief from symptoms associated with intestinal bowel disorder
 Protective effects to prevent colon cancer
 Enhancing the bioavailability and uptake of minerals
 Lowering of some risk factors of cardiovascular disease

10. Prebiotics
Ideal properties of prebiotics :
 Resistant to the actions of acids in the stomach
 Resistant to bile salts and other hydrolyzing enzymes in the
intestine
 Should not be absorbed in the upper gastrointestinal tract
 Easily fermentable by the beneficial intestinal microflora

11. Probiotics
 “A product produced by one microorganism stimulating the
growth of another microorganism”
 The latest definition put forward by FDA and WHO jointly is
“Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate
amounts confer a health benefit to the host”.
 Popularly used probiotic microorganisms are :
 Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus reuteri
 Certain strains of Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus
acidophilus-group, Bacillus coagulans, Escherichia coli strain
Nissle 1917
 Certain enterococci, especially Enterococcus faeciumSF68,
and the yeast Saccharomyces boulardii

12. Probiotics
 Ideal properties of probiotics :
 Ability to control microflora modulation
 Acceptable storage and processing stability
 Active at low dosage
 Lack of side effects
 Persistence through the colon

13. Synbiotics
 Prebiotics and Probiotics together termed as the
Synbiotics.
 Advantages :
 Maintain or improve commensal gut bacterial health
 Prevent pathogen colonization
• Limitations
 Mixed efficacy of single probiotics
 FDA regulatory process is complex

14. Phage therapy
 Phages are viruses that infect bacteria
 Part of the active phage lifestyle involves a lytic phase,
which leads to the physical break down of host bacteria to
allow escape of progeny virus.
 The application of lytic phages to kill pathogenic bacteria is
called phage therapy.
 Lytic phages of particular pathogens have been cultivated
and administered to treat infections in both humans and
animals.
 In the United States, phage therapy has been developed and
used for treatment of foodborne pathogens in animals.

15. Phage therapy

16. Phage therapy
 Advantages :
 Much more specific to the targeted bacteria than is
antibiotic therapy.
 Undesired effects on nontarget bacteria are minimal.
 Target specific
 Mixtures of multiple phages can be used to reduce
resistance development.
 Data show particular efficacy with topical applications.
 Can synergize with antibiotics.

17. Phage therapy
 Limitations :
 Potential for resistance development.
 Specificity begets technical limitation of administration
against multiple subspecies.

18. Lysins (endo or exo)
 Lysins, also known as endolysins or murein hydrolases.
 Are hydrolytic enzyme produced by bacteriophages in order
to cleave the host's cell wall during the final stage of
the lytic cycle.
 Lysins are highly evolved enzymes that are able to target
one of the five bonds in peptidoglycan (murein),the main
component of bacterial cell walls, which allows the release
of progeny virions from the lysed cell.
 Lysins are being used as antibacterial agents due to their
high effectiveness and specificity in comparison
with antibiotics , which are susceptible to bacterial
resistance.

19. Lysins (endo or exo)
 Advantages :
 Potential for expanded species specificity over phages
against desired Gram-positive targets.
 Can synergize with antibiotics.
 Limitations :
 Few options against Gram-negative bacteria

20. Bacteriocins
 Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are increasingly of interest
as alternatives to classic antibiotics.
 Many AMPs are toxic to mammalian cells, they are not
good candidates for therapies.
 A subcategory of AMPs that lacks this drawback is the
bacteriocins.

21. Bacteriosins

22. Bacteriosins
 Advantages :
 Diverse repertoire
 Target specific
 Many are already food-grade safe compounds
 Can synergize with and reduce cytotoxicity of antibiotics
 Limitation :
 Potential for resistance development
 Large bacteriocins could be sensitive to proteolysis

23. Predatory Bacteria
 Predatory bacteria are unconventional compared to the
bacterial viruses and products discussed above, but they
present an interesting possibility for an antibiotic
alternative
 Many different types of predatory bacteria have been
identified.
 Bdellovibrio and like organisms (BALOs) show particular
promise.
 BALOs are uniquely suited for control of diseases caused by
complex microbial communities or structures to which
antibiotic compounds rarely gain access.

24. Predatory Bacteria
 Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is a fascinating predatory
bacterium that attaches specifically to certain other bacteria
in order to invade them.

25. Predatory Bacteria
 Advantages :
 Effective against biofilms
 Can access recalcitrant infections
 Limitations :
 Interactions with the host and the commensal micro biota
are unknown
 Data are as yet limited

26. Conclusion

27. Thank you