Antimicrobial Drugs Flashcards
Chemical used to treat diseases
Chemotherapeutic agents
A chemical used to destroy pathogenic
microorganisms with minimal damage
Produce naturally by organisms or created synthetically
Antimicrobial drugs
Antagonistic association between an organism and the metabolic substances produced by another
Antibiosis
Antimicrobial agent naturally produced by oragnisms
Antibiotic
“Magic Bullet”
Developed the concept of chemotherapy to treat microbial diseases
Paul Ehrlich
Developed by Ehrlich
First documented example of an antimicrobial drug
Salvarsan
Dicovered the first antibiotic, Penicillin
Alexander Fleming
Characteristics of Antimicrobial Agent
Selective toxicity Antimicrobial action Spectrum of activity Affects of antimicrobial combinations Tissue distribution, metabolism, and excretion of the medication Adverse effects Resistance to antimicrobials
Selectively toxic
Medically useful antimicrobials
The relative toxicity of a medication
The lowest dose toxic to the patient divided by the dose typically used for therapy
High would mean less toxic
Therapeutic index
Chemicals that inhibit growth of bacteria
Bacteriostatic
Chemicals that kill bacteria
Bactericidal
Affect a wide range of bacteria
Broad-spectrum antimicrobials
Affect only selected group of bacteria
Less distruptive to the normal microbiota
Norrow-spectrum antimicrobials
Advantage of broad-spectrum antimicrobials
Important for life-threatening diseases when intermediate antimicrobial treatment is essential and there is no time to culture and identify the pathogen
Disadvantage of broad spectrum antimicrobials
They disrupt normal microbiota
Affects of antimicrobial combinations
Antagonistic
Synergistic
Additive
Combinations that counter the effect of other antimicrobial agents
Antagonistic
Combinations in which the activity of one medication enhance the activity of the other
Synergistic
Combinations that are neither synergistic nor antagonistic
Additive
Adverse Effects
Allergic reactions
Toxic effects - damage kidney etc.
Suppresion of normal microbiota
Resistance to antimicrobials
Intrinsic (innate) resistance
Acquired resistance
Certain types of bacteria e.g. Mycoplasma
Intrinsic (innate) resistance
Due to spontaneuos mutation or the acquisition of new genetic information (horizontal gene transfer)
Acquired resistance
Actions of Antimicrobial Drugs
Inhibition of: Cell wall synthesis Protein synthesis Essential metabolite synthesis Nucleic acid replication and transcription
Inhibit enzymes that help from cross-links between adjacent glycan chains, ultimately leading to cell lysis
All have high therapeutic index
Beta-lactam antibiotics
Examples of beta-lactam antibiotics
Inhibit cell wall synthesis
Pencillins
Cephalosporins
Carbapenems
Monobactams
An enzyme that breaks the beta-lactam ring, destroying the activity of the antibiotic
Beta-lactamase
Examples of beta-lactamase
Inhibit cell wall synthesis
Penicillinases
Carbapenemases