About this Research Topic
Even in the absence of classic genetically encoded drug resistance, bacterial tolerance to antibiotics has a large influence on the approach to therapy of bacterial infections. Antibiotic tolerance is a phenotypic characteristic where the bacterial population shows reduced susceptibility toward antibiotics. The recalcitrance of the tolerant forms can lead to delayed treatment response and reduced treatment success and may contribute to disease relapses. Importantly, drug tolerance is positively correlated with the propensity to acquire antibiotic resistance mutations in vitro. With the limited number of novel antibiotics reaching the market, fresh approaches to combating bacterial drug tolerance would improve the effective use of existing antibiotics in shortening the treatment duration and preventing drug resistance.
Approaches to tackling bacterial drug tolerance in vivo have had limited success. The aim of the current research topic is to facilitate the efforts of researchers to combat antibiotic tolerance and persistence in bacterial pathogens. Such endeavors can be leveraged to identify those at risk for treatment failure and relapse, as well as to develop new therapies or regimens that can safely shorten treatment. Developing molecular diagnostic tools to assess drug tolerance in vivo can be vital to personalized treatment regimens. Understanding and tackling drug tolerance phenotypes and the bacterial factors altering antibiotic efficacy is increasingly important in developing novel approaches to shorten antibiotic treatment regimens while preventing disease relapse and the emergence of drug resistance.
The Research Topic “Antibiotic tolerance in bacterial pathogens: Significance and future directions” will address efforts exploring the recalcitrance of bacterial pathogens when faced with antibiotics. This Topic will also cover antibiotic persistence, which is an extended form of drug tolerance among bacterial subpopulations. The scope of this collection includes, but is not limited to, understanding molecular mechanisms and pathways leading to bacterial drug tolerance, techniques and assays to generate, screen, and study tolerant populations, and novel approaches and tools to diagnose and combat drug tolerance.
In this Research Topic, we welcome the submissions of Original Research, Brief Research Reports, Reviews, and Perspective articles.
Approaches to tackling bacterial drug tolerance in vivo have had limited success. The aim of the current research topic is to facilitate the efforts of researchers to combat antibiotic tolerance and persistence in bacterial pathogens. Such endeavors can be leveraged to identify those at risk for treatment failure and relapse, as well as to develop new therapies or regimens that can safely shorten treatment. Developing molecular diagnostic tools to assess drug tolerance in vivo can be vital to personalized treatment regimens. Understanding and tackling drug tolerance phenotypes and the bacterial factors altering antibiotic efficacy is increasingly important in developing novel approaches to shorten antibiotic treatment regimens while preventing disease relapse and the emergence of drug resistance.
The Research Topic “Antibiotic tolerance in bacterial pathogens: Significance and future directions” will address efforts exploring the recalcitrance of bacterial pathogens when faced with antibiotics. This Topic will also cover antibiotic persistence, which is an extended form of drug tolerance among bacterial subpopulations. The scope of this collection includes, but is not limited to, understanding molecular mechanisms and pathways leading to bacterial drug tolerance, techniques and assays to generate, screen, and study tolerant populations, and novel approaches and tools to diagnose and combat drug tolerance.
In this Research Topic, we welcome the submissions of Original Research, Brief Research Reports, Reviews, and Perspective articles.
Keywords: Antibiotics, Drug Tolerance, Persistence, Bacterial Recalcitrance.
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
