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Penicillinase was the first β-lactamase to be identified. It was first isolated by Abraham and Chain in 1940 from E. coli (which are gram-negative) even before penicillin entered clinical use, [ 5 ] but penicillinase production quickly spread to bacteria that previously did not produce it or produced it only rarely.
Penicillins are a widely used group of medications that are effective for the treatment of a wide variety of bacterial infections in human adults and children as well as other species. Some side effects are predictable, of which some are common but not serious, some are uncommon and serious and others are rare. [ 2 ]
The β-lactam core structures. (A) A penam.(B) A carbapenam.(C) An oxapenam.(D) A penem.(E) A carbapenem.(F) A monobactam.(G) A cephem.(H) A carbacephem.(I) An oxacephem. This is a list of common β-lactam antibiotics—both administered drugs and those not in clinical use—organized by structural class.
β-Lactam antibiotics are indicated for the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible organisms. At first, β-lactam antibiotics were mainly active only against gram-positive bacteria, yet the recent development of broad-spectrum β-lactam antibiotics active against various gram-negative organisms has increased their usefulness.
Penicillin core structure. The β-lactam ring is part of the core structure of several antibiotic families, the principal ones being the penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, and monobactams, which are, therefore, also called β-lactam antibiotics. Nearly all of these antibiotics work by inhibiting bacterial cell wall biosynthesis.
Hypersensitivity is the most important adverse effect of the penicillins. The major antigenic determinant of penicillin hypersensitivity is its metabolite , penicilloic acid, which reacts with proteins and serves as a hapten to cause an immune reaction .
Penicillinase is a bacterial enzyme produced by bacteria resistant to other β-lactam antibiotics which hydrolyses the antibiotic, rendering it non-functional. Methicillin is not bound and hydrolysed by penicillinase, meaning it can kill the bacteria, even if this enzyme is present.
Penicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus [3] appeared very soon after penicillin entered general clinical use in 1943, and the mechanism of resistance was the production of β-lactamase. Modification of the penicillin molecule so that it was resistant to being broken down by β-lactamase was able to temporarily overcome this problem.