22 Antibiotic Medications Flashcards
Bacteria have two different types of cell wall, how is this used by scientists?
Feature is used to classify bacteria into gram-positive and gram-negative
Where does gram-negative and gram-positive come from?
Reaction different bacteria cell walls have to a gram stain:
- Old imaging technique used to label and identify bacteria strains
- Because of structure of cell membrane
- Gram-negative - appear pink after washing the stain off
- have thin cell wall with few layers of peptidoglycan surrounded by second lipid membrane containing lipopolysaccharides and lipoproteins
- Gram-Positive - appear dark purple after staining
- thick cell wall with many layers of peptidoglycan
What is the difference between the celll-walls in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria?
- Gram-positive bacteria:
- Possess a thick cell wall with many layers of peptidoglycan (polysaccharide chain)
- Gram-stain binds to the peptidoglycan layer
- Gram-negative bacteria
- Relatively thin cell wall with few layers of peptidoglycan surrounded by a second lipid membrane containing lipopolysaccharides
- less peptidoglycan + extra lipid membrane = absorbs less stain
Peptidoglycan structure consists of ______ strands made of alternating ___________ and ____________ residues cross-linked by peptides
Peptidoglycan structure consists of glycan strands made of alternating N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc) residues cross-linked by peptides
What part of the bacteria cell membrane has the greatest contribution to the overall structure and shape of the bacterium?
Peptide cross-linkers between glycan strands
Individual strands of glycan are polymerized by the enzyme ________ into the peptidoglycan chain
Individual strands of glycan are polymerized by the enzyme glycosyltransferase (GT) into the peptidoglycan chain
What enzyme is responsible for generating the peptide cross-links that provide the structure to the bacteria cell membrane?
Transpeptidase (TP)
- target of many antibiotics (aka penicillin-binding protein)
What are four terms used to describe the efficacy and potency of antibiotics?
- Spectrum of activity
- Bacterial sensitivity
- Therapeutic index
- Ability to penetrate
What is Spectrum of activity?
Spectrum of activity can be narrow or broad depending on the number of different bacterial species against which they exhibit useful activity
What is bacterial sensitivity?
Sensitivity measured by assessing the ability of the bacterial strain to replicate following antibiotic exposure
- Bacteriocidal antibiotic leads to permanent loss of replicative ability
- Bacteriostatic antibiotic leads to temporary loss of growth and replication that returns following the removal of antibiotics
________\_ antibiotic leads to permanent loss of replicative ability
Bacteriocidal antibiotic leads to permanent loss of replicative ability
_________\_ antibiotic leads to temporary loss of growth and replication that returns following the removal of antibiotics
Bacteriostatic antibiotic leads to temporary loss of growth and replication that returns following the removal of antibiotics
What is the difference between broad spectrum and narrow spectrum antibiotics?
Broad-spectrum: Kills off/targets a variety of bacterial species
Narrow-spectrum: targets 1-a few species of bacteria
What is therapeutic index?
Ratio of minimum concentration likely to produce an adverse effect to the minimum concentration needed to produce a desired effect
- Wide Therapeutic index = safer
What is Ability to penetrate?
Ability of drug to get to target;
Delivery of antibiotic to site of infection is most difficult challenge of antibiotic delivery
What are four classes of antibiotics?
- Cell wall inhibitors
- Folic acid
- DNA synthesis inhibitors
- Protein synthesis inhibitors
How do antibiotics not target “self” (eukaryotic cells)
Antibiotics are designed to target pathways that are unique to bacteria (ie not found in eukaryotic cells)
What was the first cell-wall inhibitor developed?
Penicillin
-discovered by alexander fleming in 1928 - produced by fungus penicillium notatum
What antibiotic was derived from the fungus Acremonium in 1945 (similar to penicillin in that it is a cell-wall inhibitor)
Cephalosporins
Penicillins and cephalosporins are called ________ because they have an unusual 4-member ring
Penicillins and cephalosporins are called beta-lactams because they have an unusual 4-member ring
How do Penicillins and cephalosporins work?
- Inhibit cell wall synthesis by inhibiting an enzyme (DD-transpeptidase (aka penicillin-binding protein)) responsible for cross-linking components of the cell wall (bacteriocidal)
Are penicillins and cephalosporins bacteriocidal or bacteriostatic?
Bacteriocidal - permanent destruction of the bacteria (interfering with outer structure of cell kills bacteria)