CLASSIFICATION AND MECHANISM OF A

Antimicrobial agents are classified based on chemical structure and

proposed mechanism of action, as follows:
(1)agents that inhibit synthesis of bacterial cell walls, including
the b-lactam class (e.g., penicillins, cephalosporins, and carbapenems)
and dissimilar agents such as cycloserine, vancomycin, and bacitracin;
(2)agents that act directly on the cell membrane of the
microorganism, increasing permeability and leading to leakage of
intracellular compounds, including detergents such as polymyxin;
polyene antifungal agents (e.g., nystatin and amphotericin B) which
bind to cell-wall sterols; and the lipopeptide daptomycin
(3)agents that disrupt function of 30S or 50S ribosomal
subunits to reversibly inhibit protein synthesis, which generally
are bacteriostatic (e.g., chloramphenicol, the tetracyclines,
erythromycin, clindamycin, streptogramins, and linezolid);
(4)agents that bind to the 30S ribosomal subunit and alter
protein synthesis, which generally are bactericidal (e.g., the
aminoglycosides);
(5)agents that affect bacterial nucleic acid metabolism, such as
the rifamycins (e.g., rifampin and rifabutin), which inhibit RNA
polymerase, and the quinolones, which inhibit topoisomerases; and
(6)the antimetabolites, including trimethoprim and the sulfonamides,