
Almost a century after Flemingʼs discovery of penicillin, there is a sore need to identify new antibacterial drugs capable of fighting infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria.Īlternative sources could represent an interesting reservoir of such molecules. Unfortunately, the overuse and misuse of antibiotics has gradually led to acquired drug resistance in bacterial strains, an ever-increasing phenomenon. These antibacterial agents have revolutionized the treatment of infections such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, leprosy, and gonorrhea. Nowadays, 97% of approved antibiotics have a microbial origin, from either soil fungi (e.g., penicillin) or bacteria (e.g., streptomycin). When available, data regarding modes of action and cytotoxicity, mandatory when considering a possible drug development, have been discussed in order to highlight the most promising compounds.

Therefore, the aim of this review is to compile up-to-date data about natural products isolated from fruiting body fungi, which significantly inhibit the growth of ESKAPEE pathogenic bacteria.

Mushroom extracts are emerging, but few purified compounds have been evaluated for their bioactivity on pathogenic bacterial strains. Publications reporting the antibacterial potential of However, macromycetes still represent a largely unexplored source. For instance, pleuromutilins constitute the first class of antibiotics derived from mushrooms. Most of currently approved antibiotics are derived from microorganisms, but higher fungi could constitute an alternative and remarkable reservoir of anti-infectious compounds. For these reasons, there is an urgent need to find new antibiotics targeting pathogenic microorganisms such as ESKAPEE bacteria. This growing phenomenon not only is associated with increased mortality but also with longer hospital stays and higher medical costs. New resistance mechanisms are emerging with many infections becoming more and more difficult if not impossible to treat. Infectious diseases are among the greatest threats to global health in the 21st century, and one critical concern is due to antibiotic resistance developed by an increasing number of bacterial strains.
