Metabolomics in drug discovery: Restoring antibiotic pipeline

• Published in: Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine
• Main Authors: Faiza Azhar, Mariam Busharat, Shah Rukh Arshad Chaudhary, Zainab Waheed, Muhammad Nauman Jamil
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2023
• Subjects: metabolomics; infectious diseases; drug discovery; antibiotics; biomarkers; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4103/2221-1691.385568; https://doaj.org/article/62cac185b4014767886d17ea85e6151e

Metabolomics has emerged as a valuable tool in drug discovery and development, providing new insights into the mechanisms of action and toxicity of potential therapeutic agents. Metabolomics focuses on the comprehensive analysis of primary as well as secondary metabolites, within biological systems. Metabolomics provides a comprehensive understanding of the metabolic changes that occur within microbial pathogens when exposed to therapeutic agents, thus allowing for the identification of unique metabolic targets that can be exploited for therapeutic intervention. This approach can also uncover key metabolic pathways essential for survival, which can serve as potential targets for novel antibiotics. By analyzing the metabolites produced by diverse microbial communities, metabolomics can guide the discovery of previously unexplored sources of antibiotics. This review explores some examples that enable medicinal chemists to optimize drug structure, enhancing efficacy and minimizing toxicity via metabolomic approaches.