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Production of antibiotics is a naturally occurring event, that thanks to advances in science can now be replicated and improved upon in laboratory settings. Due to the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, and the efforts of Florey and Chain in 1938, large-scale, pharmaceutical production of antibiotics has been made possible.
Narrow-spectrum antibiotics have low propensity to induce bacterial resistance and are less likely to disrupt the microbiome (normal microflora). [3] On the other hand, indiscriminate use of broad-spectrum antibiotics may not only induce the development of bacterial resistance and promote the emergency of multidrug-resistant organisms, but also cause off-target effects due to dysbiosis.
In addition to combining one antibiotic with another, antibiotics are sometimes co-administered with resistance-modifying agents. For example, β-lactam antibiotics may be used in combination with β-lactamase inhibitors, such as clavulanic acid or sulbactam, when a patient is infected with a β-lactamase-producing strain of bacteria. [75]
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.
Bactericidals kill bacteria directly, whereas bacteriostatics prevent them from dividing. However, these classifications are based on laboratory behavior. The development of antibiotics has had a profound effect on the health of people for many years. Also, both people and animals have used antibiotics to treat infections and diseases.
Penicillin and other β-lactam antibiotics act by inhibiting penicillin-binding proteins, which normally catalyze cross-linking of bacterial cell walls. Penicillin kills bacteria by inhibiting the completion of the synthesis of peptidoglycans, the structural component of the bacterial cell wall. It specifically inhibits the activity of enzymes ...
English: Schematic diagram of cellular growth (elongation) and binary fission of bacilli. Blue and red lines indicate old and newly-generated bacterial cell wall, respectively. (1) growth at the center of bacterial body. e.g. Bacillus subtilis, E. coli, and so on.
The cephalosporins (and other β-lactams) have the ability to kill bacteria by inhibiting essential steps in the bacterial cell wall synthesis which in the end results in osmotic lysis and death of the bacterial cell. [2] Cephalosporins are widely used antibiotics because of their clinical efficiency and desirable safety profile. [3]