1 - Introduction to antibacterial agents Flashcards
Antibiotics
Chemical products of microbes that inhibit or kill other organisms
Antimicrobial agents
Antibact/fungal/viral
Antibiotics
Synthetic compound with similar effect
Semi-synthetic i.e. modified from antibiotics
Bacteriastatic Definition
Inhibit bacterial growth - protein synthesis inhibitors
Bactericidal Definition
Kill bacteria - cell wall-active agents
Minimum inhibitory concentration
Minimum concentration of antibiotic at which visible growth is inhibited
Synergism
Activity of two microbials given together is greater than the sum of their activity if given separately
Antagonism
One agent diminishes the activity of another
Indifference
Activity unaffected by another agent
Example of synergism in clinical practice
B-lactam/aminoglycoside combintaion therapy of streptococcal endocarditis
Targets of antibiotics
Cell wall Protein synthesis DNA synthesis RNA synthesis Plasma membrane
Bacterial cell wall contains…
Peptidoglycan
Describe peptidoglycan
Major component of cell wall
Both gram-+ve and gram–ve
Polymer of glucose derivatives, N-acetyl muramic acid (NAM) & N-acetyl glucosamine (NAG)
No cell wall in animal cells = selective toxicity
What is selective toxicity
Destroy bacterial cells and not human cells
Cell wall synthesis inhibitors
B-lactams
Glycopeptides
Cycloserine (anti-tuberculous agent)
B-lactam antibiotics what are they?
First true antibiotics = penicillins
All contain B-lactam ring three carbons in a ring with nitrogen.
B-lactam antibiotics how do they work
interfere with function of penicillin binding proteins, which are transpeptidases enzymes involved in the petideoglycan cross-linking
Penicillin vs enterobacteriaceae
Ampicillin
Anti-staphyolococcal penicillin
Meticillin
Penicillin main examples
Amoxicillin - relatively narrow spectrum
Cephalosporins example
Cefuroxime - broad spectrum
Carbapenems examples
Meropenem, imipenem
Extremely broad spectrum
Monobactams
Aztreonam - gram-ive activity only