UNVEILING THE ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES: MECHANISMS OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE AND NEXT-GENERATION THERAPEUTIC PARADIGMS

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among ESKAPE pathogens poses a serious threat to effective infection management and demands alternative therapeutic approaches.Leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica were prepared using solvents of varying polarity and evaluated against multidrug-resistant ESKAPE pathogens.Antibacterial activity was assessed using disc diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) assays.Resistance determinants were identified through molecular analysis, while phytochemical screening and GC-MS were employed to characterize bioactive constituents.The isolates exhibited extensive phenotypic and genotypic resistance, including the presence of tetA, gyrA, blaSHV, blaTEM, and mecA genes.Methanolic extracts demonstrated the highest antibacterial and antibiofilm activities in a concentration-dependent manner, particularly against Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Phytochemical analysis confirmed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, terpenoids, and steroids.Azadirachta indica leaf extracts show promising antibacterial potential against multidrug-resistant ESKAPE pathogens and may serve as a viable source of alternative antimicrobial agents in the fight against AMR.