Wild mushroom extracts potentiate the action of standard antibiotics against multi-resistant bacteria

The indiscriminate use of antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents and the genetic ability of bacteria to transmit and acquire resistance resulted in the development of resistant species. In the last few years, several studies have been conducted in different countries to demonstrate the efficacy of natural products, not only studying their direct antimicrobial activity but also their capacity as resistance-modifying agents. The main objective of the present work was to evaluate the capacity of five wild mushroom extracts to potentiate the action of standard antibiotics, through synergisms that allow a decrease in their therapeutic doses and ultimately contribute to the reduction of resistances.The authors are grateful to Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and COMPETE/QREN/EU for the financial support through the research project PTDC/AGR-ALI/110062/2009, and to CHTMAD – Hospital Center of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro and Siemens for all the support