Microbiology: Antimicrobial Drugs

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to antimicrobial drugs and their mechanisms of action.

Selective toxicity

The ability to selectively find and destroy pathogens without damaging the host.

Chemotherapy

The use of chemicals to treat a disease.

Antibiotic

A substance produced by a microbe that inhibits another microbe in small amounts.

Antimicrobial drugs

Synthetic substances that interfere with the growth of microbes.

Bactericidal

Drugs that kill microbes directly.

Bacteriostatic

Drugs that prevent microbes from growing.

Narrow spectrum antibiotics

Drugs that affect a narrow range of microbial types.

Broad-spectrum antibiotics

Drugs that affect a broad range of gram-positive or gram-negative bacteria.

Superinfection

Overgrowth of normal microbiota that is resistant to antibiotics.

Penicillin

An antibiotic discovered by Fleming in 1928 that prevents the synthesis of peptidoglycan.

Beta-lactamases

Enzymes that inactivate antibiotics by breaking the beta-lactam ring.

Carbapenems

A class of antibiotics with broad-spectrum activity.

Antimycobacterial antibiotics

Drugs like Isoniazid that inhibit the synthesis of mycolic acid in mycobacteria.

Synergism

The effect of two drugs together being greater than the effect of either alone.

Antagonism

The effect of two drugs together being less than the effect of either alone.

E test

A method that determines the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of an antibiotic.

MRSA

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Vancomycin

An antibiotic used as a last-line treatment for resistant gram-positive infections.

Antifungal drugs

Medications that inhibit the growth of fungi.

Antiprotozoan drugs

Medications used to treat infections caused by protozoan parasites.