Lichen secondary metabolites as potential antibiotic agents

Abstract

It is well known that pathogenic microbes pose serious threats to human health and are increasing in prevalence in institutional health-care settings due to the growing resistance that infectious agents have developed against antibiotics. Therefore, new alternatives for combating the spread of infection through antibiotic-resistant microbes are necessary for keeping pace with the evolution of "super" pathogens. Natural products are proposed as a therapeutic alternative to conventional antimicrobial treatment. Among them, lichen-derived product and their antibiotic properties are of special interest to scientists as up to 50 % of all lichens have been reported to possess antibiotic activities. A great number of reports concerning the antimicrobial screening of lichens have appeared in the literature. According to published data, the lichens and their secondary metabolites exhibited the activity against a great number of microorganisms. Therefore, the present study represents lichens as very interesting source of bioactive compounds which provide unlimited opportunities for new antimicrobial agents.