Chapter 12

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Goal of antimicrobial therapy:

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Terms in this set (70)

administer a drug to an infected person, which destroys the bacteria without harming the host cells

*Rather difficult to achieve this goal
*Chemotherapeutic agents described with regard to their origin, range of effectiveness, and whether they are naturally produced or chemically synthesized
•For our purpose all drugs effective against bacteria are antibiotics

Table 12.1
Characteristics of the Ideal Antimicrobial Drug

Selectively toxic to the microbe but nontoxic to host cells Microbicidal rather than microbistatic
* Relatively soluble; functions even when highly diluted in body fluids
* Remains potent long enough to act and not broken down or excreted prematurely
* Does not lead to the development of antimicrobial resistance
*Complements or assists the activities of the host's defenses
* Remains active in tissues & body fluids
* Readily delivered to the site of infection
* Reasonably priced
* Does not disrupt the host's health by causing allergies or predisposing the host to other infections

Preventing Drug Resistance

* Limit drug use - less selective pressure
* Proper drug use - viruses are not affected, use full dose to ensure elimination of pathogens
* Narrow range antibiotics - kill only the targeted microbes; less likely complications
* Multiple drug treatments - drugs can work synergistically; much less likely to get drug resistance.

The origins of Antimicrobial Drugs

Antibiotics are common metabolic products of aerobic bacteria and fungi
Bacteria: Streptomyces and Bacillus
Molds: Penicillium and Cephalosporium
*Chemists have created new drugs by altering the structure of naturally occurring antibiotics
*Also Searching for metabolic compounds with antimicrobial effects in species other than bacteria and fungi