Antimicrobial Drugs

A set of flashcards focusing on vocabulary related to antimicrobial drugs, their mechanisms, classifications, and resistance.

Antimicrobial Drugs

Substances used to kill or inhibit the growth of microorganisms.

Method to test drug sensitivity

Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) assay.

Microbicidal

A property of a substance that kills microbes.

Microbistatic

A property of a substance that inhibits the growth of microbes.

Potency

The strength or effectiveness of a drug.

Antimicrobial resistance

The ability of a microbe to resist the effects of a drug that once treated them.

Origin of antimicrobial drugs

Most are produced by bacteria and fungi or are designed to mimic them.

Narrow-spectrum antibiotics

Drugs that target a specific group of microbes.

Medium-spectrum antibiotics

Drugs effective against some Gram-positives and Gram-negatives.

Broad-spectrum antibiotics

Drugs effective against most Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay

A test to measure the lowest concentration of a drug required to inhibit bacterial growth.

Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC)

The lowest concentration of drug required to kill more than 99.9% of bacteria.

Beta-lactam antibiotics

A class of antibiotics that target bacterial cell wall synthesis.

Glycopeptide antibiotics

A class of antibiotics that inhibit cell wall synthesis by binding to peptidoglycan monomers.

Polypeptide antibiotics

A class of antibiotics that disrupt cell membrane function.

Aminoglycosides

Antibiotics that target bacterial protein synthesis by binding to ribosomal subunits.

Quinolones

Antibiotics that target nucleic acid synthesis by blocking DNA unwinding.

Sulfonamides

Antibiotics that inhibit folic acid synthesis.

Transpeptidases

Enzymes involved in the construction of bacterial cell walls.

Penicillin

A narrow-spectrum antibiotic derived from Penicillium mold.

Clavamox

A combination of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid, effective against beta-lactamase producing bacteria.

Cephalosporins

Broad-spectrum antibiotics that are resistant to some bacterial beta-lactamase enzymes.

Vancomycin

A narrow-spectrum antibiotic used as a last resort for MRSA infections.

Bacitracin

An antibiotic that inhibits transport of peptidoglycan across the cytoplasmic membrane.

Polymixins

Antibiotics that disrupt the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria.

Acyclovir

An antiviral drug that mimics nucleotide structure to stop herpes virus replication.

Fuzeon

An antiviral drug that prevents fusion of HIV with host cells.

Tamiflu

An antiviral drug that prevents fusion of the influenza virus with host cells.

Polyenes

Antifungal drugs that bind to ergosterol in fungal cell membranes.

Echinocandins

Antifungal drugs that inhibit chitin synthesis in fungal cell walls.

Fungi

Eukaryotic microorganisms that can be difficult to treat without impacting host cells.

Antimicrobial adjuvants

Molecules that enhance the efficacy of antibiotics against resistant microbes.

Gram-positive bacteria

Bacteria that retain the crystal violet stain used in Gram staining.

Gram-negative bacteria

Bacteria that do not retain the crystal violet stain and have a thin peptidoglycan layer.

Sterols

A type of fat molecule in membranes, targeted by some antifungal drugs.

Chitin

A structural polysaccharide found in the cell walls of fungi.

MIC

Minimum inhibitory concentration; lowest concentration to inhibit bacteria.

MBC

Minimum bactericidal concentration; lowest concentration that kills bacteria.

Natural antibiotics

Antimicrobials directly isolated from microorganisms.

Semisynthetic drugs

Antibiotics that are chemically modified after being isolated from their natural source.

Antiviral drugs

Medications that treat viral infections by targeting various stages of the viral lifecycle.

Host cell processes

Cellular functions of the host that viral drugs must target while minimizing harm to the host.

Nucleotide analog

A molecule that mimics the structure of a nucleotide, incorporated into viral DNA.

Bacterial susceptibility

The vulnerability of bacteria to the effects of antimicrobial agents.

Bacterial resistance

The ability of bacteria to survive and multiply despite the presence of antibiotics.

Enzymatic inactivation

The process by which bacteria produce enzymes that deactivate antimicrobial drugs.

Drug spectrum

The range of bacteria that an antibiotic can effectively target.

Penicillians and Cephalosporins belongs to the class of antibiotics known as _____, which targets the bacterial cell wall?

Beta-lactams

Vancomycin is a _______ antibiotic that binds to peptidoglycan monomers and prevents polymerization

Glycopeptide

Bacitracin inhibits the transport of pepitdoglycan monomers across the_____

Cytoplasmic membrane

Chloramphenicol an amphenicol drug, inhibits ribosomal enzymes that bonds between

amino acids

Tetracyclines block the association of _____ with the ribosomes during protein synthesis

tRNAs

Polxymixins bind to ____ in gram negative bacteria and disrupt the other outer membrane

LPS

Quinolones inhibit DNA synthesis by blocking ____ of DNA helix

unwinding

Sulfonamides interfere with _____ synthesis, which is essential for making DNA, RNA, and amino acids.

Folic acid

A perfect antimicrobial drug is selectively ______ meaning it harms the microbes but not the host

toxic

Drugs that kill microbes are called

microbicidial

microbes that stop growth are

microbistatic

The ____ is the lowest concentration that kills>99.9% of bacteria cells

MIC (Minimum Bacterial Concentration)

Bacteria that produce _____ enzymes can activate beta-lactame antibiotics

Beta-lactamase

_____ is a beta-lactamase inhibitor often combined with amoxicillin

Clavulanic acid

Tamiflu prevents viral entry by blocking ____ of the virus with the host cell

fusion

Acyclovir acts as a ____ analog, disrupting viral DNA replication

nucleotide

Polyenes target fungal cell membranes by binding to ____

ergosterol

Echinocandins inhibit the synthesis of _____, a key component of fungal cell walls

chitin

Narrow-spectrum of activity

targets specific groups of microbes

Medium-spectrum of activity

effective against some gram positive and gram negatives

Broad spectrum activity

effective against most gram negative and positive bacteria

Bacterial target

bacterial trans peptides located in cell wall

What do bacterial targets do

help build and repair peptidoglycan of bacterial cell walls

What do resistant bacteria produce ?

Beta-lactamases