Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause serious infections in humans, especially in health care settings. It is known for its ability to acquire resistance to multiple antibiotics, limiting the treatment options and increasing the mortality rates. The aim of this paper is to review the current knowledge on the resistance, the treatment strategies, and the future perspectives of A. baumannii infections. There should be some background understanding on the taxonomy, ecology, epidemiology, and clinical significance of A. baumannii. The review of previous studies summarizes the main findings from the literature review, covering the different mechanisms of resistance, such as beta-lactamases, efflux pumps, target mutations, and porin loss, and how they affect the susceptibility and efficacy of various classes of antibiotics, such as penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, sulfonamides, and colistin. The previous screening research studies highlight the limitations and challenges of the current treatment options, such as toxicity, resistance development, poor penetration, and narrow spectrum, and identifies the gaps and needs for the future research and development of new therapies and modalities, such as new antibiotics, alternative therapies, vaccines, immunotherapy, and nanotechnology. The final analysis concludes that A. baumannii is a highly resistant bacterium that poses a serious challenge for the clinical management of infections, and that more research and innovation are needed to discover new antibiotics and alternative modalities that can target A. baumannii and overcome its resistance mechanisms. One of the promising tools is the use of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the discovery of new promising drugs.
Key words: Acinetobacter baumannii, Carbapenem, Clinical management, efflux pumps, target mutations, Carbapenems, Fluoroquinolones, Aminoglycosides, Sulfonamides, Porin
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