Herbal Bioactive Compounds for Skin Infections and Inflammatory Conditions

Abstract

Skin microbiota is an integral part of the human immune system. Staphylococcus aureus is one of the essential components of the normal flora. Approximately 20–30% of healthy individuals are persistently colonized with S. aureus, whereas the remainders are considered low-level intermittent carriers. Despite these natural aspects of existence, S. aureus can be a major opportunistic human pathogen. This versatile microorganism can infect a variety of anatomical sites, causing a broad spectrum of pathologies ranging from superficial to invasive infections. It developed a variety of strategies to adopt to a changing microenvironment. This attributed to the emergence of resistance to antibiotics of different classes during the past six decades. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was originally confined to health-care settings (health-care-associated MRSA). Later on, community-acquired MRSA was identified as another source of infections. Recent figures indicate that MRSA strains have been associated with approximately 75% of all S. aureus infections worldwide. Several guidelines have been published to establish an adequate treatment of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) caused by MRSA strains. In the first part of this review, we focus on current treatment guidelines with a focus on medical drug therapy, but drug therapy has its own limitations. Recently, the interest in herbal remedies has greatly increased. There is growing evidence of antimicrobial activity of medicinal plants and their extracts. The second part of this review is dedicated to herbal compounds to circumvent antibiotic resistance. Herbal compounds may potentiate the action of antibiotics and restore the activities of antibacterial agents against which S. aureus has developed a drug resistance. Part 2 focuses on the role of S. aureus in pathology of the two major inflammatory skin diseases, i.e., atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriasis. Finally, Part 3 provides an overview on natural compounds with antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and possible use in the treatment of SSTIs,