Research Progress on the Antibacterial Activity of Natural Flavonoids

作者：Zhijin Zhang, Mingze Cao, Zixuan Shang, Jing Xu, Xu Chen, Zhen Zhu, Weiwei Wang, Xiaojuan Wei, Xuzheng Zhou, Yubin Bai, Jiyu Zhang · 发表于：Antibiotics · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3390/antibiotics14040334 · 被引用次数：50 · 研究领域：Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity、Bioactive Compounds and Antitumor Agents、Phytochemistry and Bioactivity Studies

The use of antibiotics has greatly improved the treatment of bacterial infections; however, its abuse and misuse has led to a rapid rise in multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. Therefore, the search for new antimicrobial strategies has become critical. Natural flavonoids, a class of widely existing phytochemicals, have gained significant research interest for their diverse biological activities and antibacterial effects on various drug-resistant bacteria. This review summarizes the latest research progress on flavonoids, with a particular focus on several flavonoids exhibiting certain antibacterial activity, and explores their antibacterial mechanisms, including disruption of cell membranes and cell walls, inhibition of proteins and nucleic acids, interference with signal transduction, suppression of efflux pump activity, and inhibition of biofilm formation and virulence factor production. Additionally, we have reviewed the synergistic combinations of flavonoids with antibiotics, such as the combination of quercetin with colistin or EGCG with tetracycline, which significantly enhance therapeutic efficacy.