Recent advances in the discovery of metallo-β-lactamase inhibitors for β-lactam antibiotic-resistant reversing agents.

The overuse of antibiotics which exerts the selective pressure for bacterial pathogens has facilitated the spread of antibiotics' resistance. Metallo-β-lactamases (MβLs) are zinc enzymes produced by an increasing number of bacterial pathogens. They can readily cleave carbapenems and most other β-lactams that are mainstays of therapy for bacterial infections. MβL-conferred resistance to antibiotics is most worrisome due to MβLs exhibiting very broad-spectrum resistance. Therefore, the bacteria carrying MβLs have recently become a significant clinical threat. No clinically useful MβLs inhibitor has been discovered yet. To address the serious threat to public health posed by the MβL-conferred resistance to antibiotics, novel effective MβL inhibitors are urgently needed. This review mainly describes various MβL inhibitors, giving special attention to their antibacterial activity, mechanisms of action, structure-activity relationships and synergetic effect with clinically available antibiotics.