Development of Efflux Pumps and Inhibitors (EPIs) in A. baumanii

Over the past three decades, Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as an important nosocomial pathogen worldwide. Certain strains of A baumannii are now resistant to many common antimicrobial agents, including fluoroquinolone, and multidrug resistance (MDR) is often responsible for the failure of antibiotic therapy. Reasearchers have paid close attention to the emergency of MDR-AB, and PDR (pandrug-resistance)-AB, even XDR (extreme-drug resistance)-AB isolated from clinical patients, mediated primarily through the production of β-lactamases, aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes (AMEs), mutation in gene for DNA gyrase subunit A (gyrA) and DNA topoisomerase (parC), as well as efflux pumps. In this article, we discussed the roles of various efflux pumps expressed in Acinetobacter baumanii and efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs), aimed at providing an overview of the mechanism to antibiotics in Acinetobacter baumanii.