7. Introduction To Antibiotics And Resistance Flashcards
What are the types of antimicrobials?
Antibacterial
Antifungal
Antiviral
Antiprotozoal
How can antimicrobial agents be classified?
Bactericidal or bacteriostatic Spectrum - broad vs narrow Target site (mechanism of action) Chemical structure (antibacterial class)
How do you choose an antibiotic?
Is it active against target organism?
Does it reach site of infection? (Cross blood-brain barrier)
Is it available in right formulation? (IV or oral)
What is the half life? (Decides dosing frequency)
Does it interact with other drugs?
Is there toxicity issues?
Does it require therapeutic drug monitoring?
How can you measure antibiotic activity?
Disc sensitivity testing - measure zone of clearance for each antibiotic
Disc diffusion testing
Broth microdilution - minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)
E test - strip of varying gradients of antibiotics, MIC
What are the classes of antibacterial and their mechanism of action?
Cell wall synthesis: beta-lactams (penicillin, cephalosporins), glycopeptides
Cell membrane function: polymixins (colistin)
Protein synthesis: tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, macrolides
Nucleic acid synthesis: quinolones, trimethoprim, rifampicin
How does penicillin work?
Prevents penicillin binding protein from binding cell wall of bacteria together
How does vancomycin work?
Prevents cell wall cross-linking enzyme working by blocking it
What are the types of resistance?
Intrinsic - no target or access for drug, permanent
Acquired - acquires new genetic material or mutates, permanent
Adaptive - organism responds to a stress, can go back to being sensitive
What are the mechanisms of resistance?
Enzymatic modification or destruction of antibiotics
Enzymatic alteration of antibiotic targets
Mutations of bacterial target sites
What is horizontal gene transfer?
Donor with plasmid with resistant gene can give the gene to a different protein, so more bacteria are resistant
Are penicillins active against gram-positive or gram-negative?
Gram-positive
Amoxicillin has some activity against gram-negatives
What is penicillin active against?
Mainly streptococci
What is flucloxacillin active against?
Staphylococci and streptococci
What are the B-lactamase inhibitor combinations and what are they active against?
Co-amoxiclav - streptococci, staphylococci, anaerobes, more gram negative
Piperacillin/tazobactam - streptococci, staphylococci, lots more gram negative including pseudomonas), effective in sepsis
What are cephalosporins active against?
Generations with increased Gneg and decreased Gpos
Broad spectrum but not anaerobe activity
Ceftriaxone has good activity in CSF
Concern over association with C. difficile