ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS Flashcards
- Collectively referred as chemotherapeutic agent
- Commonly known as antibiotics
- Any substance from microorganisms or synthetically that are capable of inhibiting or destroying microorgansim even at a low concentration
- Any chemical (drug) used to treat an infectious disease
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS
- For bacteria
Antibacterial agents
- coined by Paul Ehrlich, German medical researcher.
- term to describe those chemical agents that kill pathogens without injuring the host.
Chemotherapy
- Example: albendazole, mebendazole, thiabendazole, fenbendazole, etc.
Antihelminthic agent
- substance produce by microorganisms that is effective in killing or inhibiting the
growth of other microorganisms-bacteria - produced by certain molds
- The mold Penicillium notatum, the source of penicillin.
- Example: penicillin
Antibiotic
- Fungal infections
- Local antifungal agents: administered topically
- Systemic antifungal agents: administered orally or intravenously.
- Example: butoconazole, clotrimazole, econazole, fenticonazole, isoconazole,
ketoconazole
Antifungal agents
- Protozoal diseases
- Example: eflornithine, furazolidone, hydroxychloroquine, melarsoprol, metronidazole.
Antiprotozoal agents
- For viral diseases
- Example: abacavir use for hiv, acyclovir (aciclovir) use for herpes, adefovir use for chronic hepatitis b, amantadine use for influenza, ampligen, tamiflu for influenza type a
Antiviral agents
When an antimicrobial agent used to treat any infectious disease is known as
antimicrobial chemotherapy
- Ex: penicillin, daptomycin, fluoroquinolones, metronidazole, nitrofurantoin, cotrimoxazole, telithromycin
Bactericidal antibiotics kill bacteria directly
- Example: penicillin G - effective at killing gram(+)tive bacteria, but not very effective against gram(-)tive bacteria.
Narrow-spectrum antibiotics are only effective against a narrow range of bacteria
- Example: Chloramphenicol, Clindamycin, Ethambutol, Lincosamides, Macrolides, Nitrofurantoin, Novobiocin
Bacteriostatic antibiotics stop/inhibit bacteria from growing.
- Many bacterial and fungal cells have rigid external cell walls - antimicrobial agents destroys
- Ex. penicillin and cephalosporin - w/B-lactam ring, which cross-linking/ interferes peptidoglycans in cell wall.
- Not for Fungi
Mode of Action: Inhibition of cell wall synthesis
- act against both gram (+) & gram(-) bacteria
- Example: Ampicillin, Tetracyclines, Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid
Broad-spectrum antibiotics are effective against a broad range of bacteria
- Function: Lipopolysaccharide, inner and outer membranes
- Example: Polymyxin B, colistin, daptomycin
- Example: Fungi - Polyene antibiotics (amphotericin B) act by binding w/ sterols of fungal cell membrane.
Mode of Action: Disruption of Cell Membrane
- Protein - important component of a cell which is required for DNA, RNA, and ribosome.
- 30S ribosomal subunit – Example: Aminoglycosides, tetracyclines
- 50S ribosomal subunit – Example: Macrolides, lincosamides, chloramphenicol, oxazolidinones
Mode of Action: Inhibition of Protein Synthesis
- Folic acid synthesis enzyme. Example: Sulfonamides, trimethoprim
- Mycolic acid synthesis enzyme. Example: Isonicotinic acid hydrazide
Mode of Action: Action as antimetabolites
- RNA- Example: Rifamycin
- DNA – Example: Fluoroquinolones
Mode of Action: Inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis
- occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines
- making infections harder to treat; increases risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
When a particular microorganism obtains the ability to resist a particular antimicrobial agent to which it was previously susceptible
Acquired resistance
- resistant to at least one antibiotic in three or more drug classes.
- MRSA: methicilluin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Multidrug-resistant (MDR)
Bacteria with resistance to several commonly used antibiotics.
Superbugs
- Treatment involving more than one drug.
- Rationale: lesser likelihood that
pathogen develops resistance to
multiple drugs.
Combination therapy
- A resistance gene may code for enzyme that can alter its structure leading to inactivation of the antibiotic
- Ex: some bacteria produce beta-lactamases which can hydrolyze the ß lactam bonds in the chemical structure of the antimicrobial agents
Drug modification or inactivation