CHAPTER 9 Flashcards
actually refers to
the use of any chemical (drug) to treat any disease or condition.
chemotherapy
The chemicals (drugs) used to treat diseases are
referred to as
chemotherapeutic agents.
is any chemical (drug)
used to treat an infectious disease, either by inhibiting or
killing pathogens in vivo.
antimicrobial
agent
Drugs used to treat bacterial
diseases are called
antibacterial agents,
is a substance produced
by a microorganism that is effective in killing or inhibiting the growth of other microorganisms.
antibiotic
examples of antibiotics produced by
moulds;
Penicillin and
cephalosporins
antibiotics that have been chemically modified to kill a wider variety of pathogens or reduce side
effects; these modified antibiotics are called
semisynthetic
antibiotics.
discovered that the red dye, Prontosil, was ef-
fective against streptococcal infections in mice.
Gerhard
Domagk
The five most common mechanisms of action of
antimicrobial agents are as follows:
- Inhibition of cell wall synthesis
- Damage to cell
membranes - Inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis (either DNA or
RNA synthesis) - Inhibition of protein synthesis
- Inhibition of enzyme activity
drugs that inhibit production of folic acid
Sulfonamide
they kill either
Gram-positive or
Gram-negative
bacteria,
Narrow spectrum
antibiotics
they kill both
Gram-positives and
Gram-negatives.
broad spectrum
antibiotics
the only narrow-spectrum antibiotic
vancomycin
these agents stop bacteria from growing and dividing.
bacteriostatic agents
Bacteriostatic agents should not be used in
or leukopenic patients (patients having
an abnormally low number of white blood cells).
they interfere with the synthesis of bacterial
cell walls and have maximum effect on bacteria that are
actively dividing.
Penicillins
The cephalosporins are clas-
sified as
first-, second-, third-, and fourth-generation
cephalosporins
these ____ generation agents are
active primarily against Gram-positive bacteria.
First gen
___generation cephalosporins have increased activity against
Gram-negative bacteria,
second
____generation cephalo-
sporins have even greater activity against Gram-negatives
(including Pseudomonas aeruginosa).
Third
what is an example of a fourth generation cephalosphorin
Cefepime
broad-spectrum drugs
that exert their effect by targeting bacterial ribosomes.
Tetracyclines.
are effective
against a wide variety of bacteria, including chlamydias,
mycoplasmas, rickettsias, Vibrio cholerae, and spirochetes
like Borrelia spp. and T. pallidum.
Tetracyclines.