Marine Metabolites: An Untapped Resource for Combinatorial Approaches against Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in pathogens of clinical importance has been reported as the most commonly used antibiotics. The discovery of antimicrobial agents is in a sharp decline due to the high probability of rediscovery, high costs, and low income. Hence, the development of combinatorial antimicrobial approaches to treat AMR-related infections has gained greater attention in recent decades. Marine organisms are a rich source of structurally and chemically diversified bioactive compounds for drug discovery to address the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. Researchers have identified several bioactive metabolites from marine resources and reported on their pharmacological activities. Interestingly, marine-derived metabolites such as antimicrobial peptides, alkaloids, anthraquinones, and polysaccharides were shown to enhance the action of antibiotics by means of synergistic activity. However, numerous marine-derived compounds are yet to be evaluated for their inherent proficiency to increase the efficiency of the antibiotics and research in this regard is expected to save time, expenses and successful identification of potential compounds to treat AMR infectious diseases.