TABLE 3.

Antimicrobials found in wound dressings

Antimicrobial	Mechanism	Examples of pathogen coverage
Antibiotics
β‐Lactams	Prevents synthesis of bacterial cell wall174	Streptococcus pneumoniae 175 Listeria monocytogenes 175 Escherichia choli 175 Haemophilus influenzae 175
Tetracycline	Binds to 30S ribosomal subunit to prevent protein synthesis174	Mycoplasma pneumoniae 176 Chlamydiae trachomatis 176 Rickettsia rickettsii 176 Borrelia burgdorferi 176
Aminoglycosides	Inhibition of protein synthesis174	Escherichia coli Klebsiella pneumoniae Yersinia pestis Staphylococcus aureus
Quinolones	Inhibition of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV174	Salmonella enterica 177 Shigella sonnei 177 Escherichia coli 177 Pseudomonas aeruginosa 177
Sulphonamides	Competitively inhibit dihydropteroate synthetase in folic acid synthesis pathway174	Nocardia brasiliensis 177 Toxoplasma gondii 177
Glycopeptides	Prevention of transglycosylation step in cell wall synthesis174	Staphylococcus aureus 178 Streptococcus pnumoniae 178
Nanoparticles
Iron oxide	Disruption of DNA and enzymatic processes
Titanium dioxide	Disruption of cell wall, plasma membrane, and DNA
Zinc oxide	Disruption of cell wall and plasma membrane
Silver	Disruption of cell wall and plasma membrane, DNA replication, transcription, and enzymatic pathways	Neisseria gonorrhoeae 179
Natural products
Honey	Provides unfavorable environment for microbes, prevents microbial growth, damages cell walls, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids	Staphylococcus aureus 180
Henna	Contains quinones which form stable free radicals that irreversibly complex with amino acids to inactivate proteins181
Curcumin	Inhibition of cell division182
Aloe vera	Contains anthraquinones, which is a structural analogue of tetracycline (mechanism of action listed above)183
Thymol	Disrupts cell membranes184
Essential oils: Cinnamaldehyde Geraniol Thymol analogues Menthol Carvacrol	Disrupts cell membranes