WEEK 8: ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS AND RESISTANCE Flashcards
(112 cards)
What are examples of early antimicrobials found from the environment?
- Quinine (in tonic water) for malaria
- Mercury for syphilis
What did Alexander Flemming discover that inhibited the growth of S. aureus?
-Penicillin
What is the 1942 definition of an antibiotic? (By Waksman)
- Any substance produced by a microorganism that is antagonistic to the growth of other microorganisms in high dilution
What is a main general property of antimicrobial agents?
- Selective toxicity
What does the property of selective toxicity involve and what is an example of it?
- Antimicrobial agent that needs to target a biochemical process that occurs IN THE PATHOGEN but preferably not in the host
e. g. Penicillin targets the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan in bacterial cell walls (there is no such pathway in mammalian cells so they are safe)
In general, are narrow spectrum or broad sprectrum antimicrobial agents better?
- Narrow spectrum bc. it doesn’t destroy the microbiome
- Effective only against a limited number of bacteria (less resistance)
What are narrow spectrum antimicrobial agents effective against?
- Only a limited number of bacteria
What are broad spectrum antimicrobial agents effective against?
- Many different types of bacteria
- they are like a bomb and take out everything, even the good bacteria
What are the three different classes that antimicrobial agents can com from?
- Natural products
- Semisynthetic products
- Synthetic products
What are examples of antimicrobial agents sourced 100% from natural products?
- Penicillin, aminoglycosides and polyenes
How are microbial agents sourced from natural products?
- by fermentation of fungi or bacteria that produce the antimicrobial agents (like penicillin)
What are semisynthetic products in terms of the source of antimicrobial agents and what are some examples?
- Chemically modified derivatives of natural products
- E.g. beta-lactams, cephalosporins
Are completely synthetic products common or rare for the source of antimicrobial agents?
- Rare
What are completely synthetic products in terms of antimicrobial agents and what are 2 examples of them?
- Chemically synthesized
e. g. Oxazolidinones and quinolones
What are the names of two different effects that antimicrobial agents can have on bacteria?
- Bacteriostatic agent
- Bacteriocidal agents
What do bacteriostatic agents do?
- STOP bacterial growth but don’t kill the bacteria (Doesn’t kill them)
- Allow host defence mechanisms to overcome infection
What do bacteriocidal agents do?
- Kill the targeted bacterial cells
Do bacteriocidal agents always target the cell wall when killing the bacteria?
-YES
Can antimicrobials be bacteriocidal for one organism but bacteriostatic for the next?
- YES
- bc. depends on what they target
What are 3 ideal conditions for antimicrobial targets?
- Macromolecules (enzymes) that are UNIQUE to microbial cell or HIGHLY divergent from their human homologues
- Metabolic processes that can be by-passed in humans but NOT in the pathogen (e.g. folate incorperation from dietary sources)
- Normal activity of the target must be LIMITING for microbial replication or virulence
What are the three very basic steps to peptidoglycan synthesis?
- Basic monomer
- Extend monomer into chains
- Crosslink the chains into a mesh like structure
What does PBP stand for?
- Penicillin Binding Protein
What three processes in cell wall synthesis and maintenance of Peptidogylcan do PDPs have a role in ?
- Transglycosylation
- Transpeptidation
- Peptide cleavage
What does transglycosylation involve in cell wall synthesis of bacteria
- Wall synthesis for growth and septation (division into parts by septum) of bacteria