ANTIBACTERIAL DRUGS Flashcards
what are antimicrobials?
any natural or synthetic chemicals that kill or inhibit the growth of microorganisms
what are bactericidals?
antibiotics that kill bacteria
what does bacteriostatic mean?
Capable of inhibiting the growth or reproduction of bacteria.
what is the ‘selective toxicity of antimicrobials’?
they must be highly effective against the microbe but have minimal or no toxicity to humans.
what are the ideal properties of antimicrobials?
- have selective toxicity
- be bactericidal
- have slow emergence of resistance
- narrow spectrum of activity (be specific to a microbe)
what are the benefits of narrow-spectrum antibiotics?
they only kill the microbe not wanted, minimizing collateral damage on the microbiota and reduces the chance of resistance
what do antibiotics target?
- cell wall synthesis
- enzymes involved in metabolism
- protein synthesis
- nucleic acid synthesis
- cytoplasmic membrane function
how do beta lactams kill bacteria?
Act by inhibiting the synthesis of the peptidoglycan layer of bacterial cell walls by inhibiting the enzyme required for transpeptidation
how do glycopeptides kill bacteria?
inhibit cell wall synthesis by blocking new linkages of cell wall subunits
how do sulfonamides work?
they competitively iinhibit bacterial enzyme DPS in the folic acid synthesis pathway, blocking nucleic acid synthesis
describe the structure of eukaryotes ribosomes?
they have 40S and a 60S subunit
describe the structure of prokaryotes ribosomes?
they have 30S and 50S subunitys
how do aminoglycosides work?
they inhibit bacterial protein synthesis by binding to the 30S subunit
how do tetracyclines work?
they inhibit bacterial protein synthesis by binding to the 30S subunit
how do macrolides work?
they inhibit bacterial protein synthesis by binding to the 50S subunit
