Sistemes d'expulsió activa i llur relació amb la resistència als agents antibacterians

Microorganisms have developed several mechanisms to resist toxic effects from antibacterial agents; among them we found decrease in drug accumulation, which can be due to a decrease of permeability in Gram-negative bacteria or/and to an increased expression of one or more efflux pumps in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Among Gram-negative bacteria the interplay between both mechanisms is frequently found. Active efflux systems can be distributed in several families, depending on their molecular architecture, mechanism of action, energetic requirements and substrate specificity. Those active efflux systems have been considered as potential therapeutic targets, since their inhibition can restore antibacterial agent activity. Therefore, a possible new therapeutic strategy would be found in development of efflux pumps inhibitors, which would be administered together with the antibacterial agent.