Nanoparticles: A Potential Breakthrough

in Counteracting Multidrug-Resistant

Bacterial Infections—A Holistic View

on Underlying Mechanisms

and Antibacterial Properties

11

Ankush Parmar and Shweta Sharma

Abstract

In the present scenario, a serious predicament faced across the globe is the

infection caused by bacteria. Bacterial infections rank higher among dreadful

diseases and are considered to be the foremost leading causes of death worldwide.

Although the recent decade has witnessed a notable development in the produc-

tion of cogent antibiotics, still the efficacy of these remains questionable. Another

major concern is the facile selection of antimicrobial therapy which in turn is

totally empirical in nature and is often accompanied with numerous severe side

effects, viz., systemic toxicity, hypersensitivity, teratogenicity, and mutagenicity.

Additionally, the clinical application of antibiotics is hampered, owing to the

multidrug resistance (MDR) evoked in bacteria. This further worsens up the

situation and leads to a reduced therapeutic potential thereby ultimately leaving

an innate effect on the public health. Apart from this, biofilm-associated

infections have also significantly reduced the efficacy of currently imparted

antibacterial remedial therapy, thus leaving no viable therapeutic option avail-

able. This alarming situation thus calls for the development of and designing

novel alternate routes for eliminating the lacunas of the contemporary

antibacterial therapeutic approach.

In this context, nanotechnology has appeared to be a pioneer, and the previous

decade has seen a tremendous rise in the worldwide utilization of nanomedicines

as inventive devices for battling the high rates of antibacterial resistance. Ongoing

researches have demonstrated that consolidating nanoparticles with antibacterial

agents

additionally

improves

their

bactericidal

properties.

Consolidating

antibiotics with nanoparticles likewise reestablishes their capacity to kill

A. Parmar · S. Sharma (*)

Institute of Forensic Science & Criminology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

e-mail: 25shweta@pu.ac.in

# The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte

Ltd. 2022

R. C. Sobti, N. S. Dhalla (eds.), Biomedical Translational Research,

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9232-1_11

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