Will Snake Venoms Help Overcome Antimicrobial Resistance?

Microbial resistance to drugs and the search for ways to overcome it are a global public health problem. It has now been established that the venoms of snakes from various families and genera are capable of suppressing the proliferation and killing resistant species and strains of microorganisms. This review focuses on the components of snake venom (toxins) that exhibit pronounced antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and protozoa with known drug resistance, with indication of the resistant species and strain. The antimicrobial activity of enzymatic toxins (phospholipases A2, including enzymatically inactive homologues, L-amino acid oxidases, and metalloproteinases), toxins lacking enzymatic activity (proteins of the CRISP family, C-type lectins, and lectin-like proteins), polypeptides (three-finger toxins and Kunitz-type serine proteinase inhibitors), and cationic peptides (cathelicidins, crotamine, and omwaprin) is discussed. The problems of using snake venom toxins with antimicrobial activity and approaches to solve these problems are considered. Methods for increasing the efficacy and reducing the toxicity of such compounds are proposed: the use of bioinformatics and molecular modeling methods to identify active fragments of the molecule and design more effective synthetic analogues, encapsulation and nanoencapsulation. The immunomodulatory properties of toxins and their synergistic action with other antimicrobial substances are noted. Although currently the use of snake venom toxins is primarily at the research stage, they represent a promising reserve for the creation of new types of antimicrobial drugs capable of overcoming microbial resistance.