Antimicrobials from cnidarians. A new perspective for anti-infective therapy?

The ability of microbes to counter the scientific and therapeutic advancements achieved during the second half of the twentieth century to provide effective disease treatments is currently a significant challenge for researchers in biology and medicine. The discovery of antibiotics, and the subsequent development of synthetic antimicrobial compounds, altered our therapeutic approach towards infectious diseases, and improved the quality and length of life for humans and other organisms. The current alarming rise in cases of antibiotic-resistance has forced biomedical researchers to explore new ways to recognize and/or produce new antimicrobials or to find other approaches for existing therapeutics. Aquatic organisms are known to be a source of compounds having the potential to play a role in fighting the battle against pathogenic microbes. In this connection, cnidarians occupy a pre-eminent role. Over the past few decades several studies have explored the antimicrobial/antibiotic properties of cnidarian extracts with the aim of isolating compounds possessing useful therapeutic features. This paper aims to review the existing data on this subject, taking into account the possible utilization of identified compounds.