Antimicrobial therapies Flashcards
What is selective toxicity?
Microbial drugs abide by the principle of selective toxicity. They interfere with the metabolism or function of the pathogen, with minimal damage to host cells.
What are the two classes of antibiotics?
Bacteriostatic and bactericidal
What are the mechanisms of bacteriostatic antibiotics? (2)
Anitmetabolites: Interupts nucleic acid synthesis, metabolic pathways (substrates)
Protein synthesis inhibitors: Prevents translation and transcription of structural genes
What are bacteriostatic antibiotics?
Drugs inhibits the growth of the microorganism.
What are are the three principal mechanisms for bactericidal antibiotics?
Beta lactams (disrupt peptidoglycan cell wall)
Cell membrane agents
DNA gyrase inhibitors
What pathway does sulphonamide interfere with?
Interferes with folic acid synthesis by preventing the addition paraminobenozinc acid through competing with the enzyme dihydropteroate synthetase.
What is the mechanism of tetracycline?
Prevention of transcription and translation of microbial genes. Tetracycline inhibits translation through preventing the association of amino-acyl tRNA within the ribosome.
What ribosomal subunit does chloramphenicol bind onto?
50s
What is the mechanism of a beta-lactam?
Inhibits cell wall synthesis.Binds to penicillin binding proteins preventing synthesis of peptidoglycan.
What are broad spectrum antibiotics?
Destroy a wide range of harmful bacteria, whereas narrow-spectrum antibiotics target specific pathogens.
What factors affect drug efficacy?
pH level
Concentration
Antibiotic destruction
Sensitivity
What is the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC)?
Lowest concentration of AB required to inhibit growth
What is the breakpoint?
The clinically achievable concentration
What is the process of antibiotic resistance? (Natural selection perspective)
Selection pressure- bacteria with resistance to the antibiotic has a selective advantage, being more likely to survive and reproduce successfully.
Post-antibiotic exposure reduced intra-specific competition leads to exponential growth.
Due to binary fission, the daughter cells will inherit the alleles that confer resistance; the process of natural selection repeats for generations, causing changes in the allele frequency-.
Significant proportion of antibiotic resistant strains arises in population
How can antibiotic resistance be acquired?
Bacterial conjugation: Horizontal gene transfer of bacterial plasmids. Gain of antibiotic resitstance gene
Bacterial transformation: Inclusion of plasmids or alleles from the external environment into the bacterium genome.
Transduction: Natural AB resistance genes introduced by bacteriophages, occurs during transduction, piece of integrated AB gene transferred to another host cell during the lysogenic pathway
What are DNA plasmids?
Small circular pieces of DNA, containing variety of genes that encode for different proteins and enzymes
Have genes that express antibiotic resistance
How are plasmids transferred between bacterium?
Copied, shared and swapped through hollow tubular structure, plus, allows a pore to form in the envelops of the cell, enables plasmid to be passed from a donor to recipient
Why is there a high prevalence of Antibiotic-resistant strains n healthcare?
Antibiotic resistant genes only possess an evolutionary advantage if a selection pressure is applied. Antibiotic exposure will ensure susceptible bacteria are destroyed, contrastingly bacteria with the acquired resistance will be able to survive and multiply to become prevalent in the environment (healthcare associated infections). Absence of antibiotic exposure puts bacteria at an evolutionary disadvantage (harbouring additional DNA requires a larger energy commitment to maintain the genetic information).
What are bacterial transposons?
Pieces of DNA with the ability to integrate and exchange between bacterial genomes independently from conjugation and transformation
What is bacterial transduction?
Lysogenic bacteriophages can remove bacterial DNA located within a proximity to the phage DNA attachment site. Bacterial DNA encoding for antibiotic resistance can therefore be extracted into the phage DNA, henceforth during further infection cycles the phage would insert the DNA into the new hosts genome; transferring antibiotic resistance.
What is bacterial transformation?
Bacterial cells taking up DNA fragments within the surrounding environment (contain genes that encode for proteins and enzymes). DNA fragments suspended in environment due to bacterial death. Multiple plasmids can be accumulating inside a bacterium, leads to variety of antibiotic resistant genes.
What are the four mechanisms of AB resistance?
Altered target site
Inactivation of antibiotic
Altered metabolism
Decreased drug accumulation
What alternative binding site does MRSA encode for?
PBP2a, with low affinity for beta lactams, inhibiting the binding mechanism
How is streptococcus pneumonia resistant to erythromycin?
Acquisition of the erm gene
Enzyme methylates the AB target site in the 50s ribosomal subunit
Chemical inhibition of the antibiotic
What is the enzyme that hydrolyse beta lactams?
Beta-lactamases
How do beta-lactamases work?
Breaks bond in B-lactam ring of penicillin, disabling the molecule
Choramphenical acetyl-transferase enzymatically targets the riNG
What is the term for broad spectrum beta lactamases (NDM-1)?
Extended spectrum beta lactamases (ESBLs)
What is altered metabolism?
Increased production of enzyme substrate to outcompete antibiotic inhibitor (PABA confers resistance to sulphonamides) .Competitive inhibitor (sulphonamide).
Bacteria can alternate and divert to other metabolic pathways, reducing the metabolic requirement for PABA.