Enterococci facilitate polymicrobial infections.

Enterococci facilitate polymicrobial infections, leading to more complicated pathogenesis and poorer prognoses, and compromise the efficacy of antimicrobial agents by promoting the colonization, proliferation, and persistence of diverse pathogenic bacteria. The elucidation of synergistic interactions between enterococci and pathogens is expected to accelerate the discovery and development of novel therapies against polymicrobial infections. Multitargeted or combinatorial therapies provide promising alternative strategies to treat polymicrobial infections by simultaneously targeting pathogens and enterococci, thereby mitigating or eliminating both the causative agents and pathobionts. Enterococci are ubiquitous members of the gut microbiota in human beings and animals and are among the most important nosocomial organisms. Due to their opportunistic pathogenicity, enterococci are referred to as pathobionts and play decisive roles in a diverse array of polymicrobial infections. Enterococci can promote the colonization, pathogenesis, and persistence of various pathogens, compromise the efficacy of drugs, and pose a severe threat to public health. Most current treatments tend to focus on the sole pathogenic bacteria, with insufficient attention to the driving role of enterococci. In this review, we summarize the characteristics of enterococci in infections, the factors facilitating their outgrowth, as well as the sites and types of enterococci-associated polymicrobial infections. We present an overview of the underlying mechanisms of enterococci-mediated pathogenesis in polymicrobial infections. Furthermore, we discuss alternative strategies and potential intervention approaches to restrict such infections, shedding light on the discovery and development of new therapies against polymicrobial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]