Welcome to Microbic Park

When thinking about microbiology. Think of a huge zoo. With animals (microbes)
along with their various strategies to avoid the zoos defenses (host defenses),
avoid the various zookeepers (medications), and reproduce within the zoo with the
ultimate goal of taking over and destroying the zoo.
Today we are highlighting the zookeepers, the various types of antimicrobials with
their unique special abilities that keep our zoos safe from the microbes. Since, you
dont want too many zookeepers (drugs) running around in the zoo (the human
body) as well, the various offices located in the zoo (liver, kidney, etc) activated
or deactivate these zookeepers to prevent the tourists (normal cells of the body)
from freaking out.
Lets start with:
1. Sulfonamides: These zookeepers are pretty broad (broad spectrum),
hunky dudes, used to dealing with a lot of different types of microbes. They
like to foil escape plots (inhibitors of folic acid synthesis). They have
special equipment that inhibit dihydropteroate synthase by competing
with microbe PABA (p-Aminobenzoid Acid). They can also track by urine
(bacteriacidal in urine). There have been reports of them smoking crystal
meth while on urine tracking missions (crystaluria in acidic urine). They
are decommissioned (inactivated) through the office of the Liver by
receiving an official acetyl group (acetylation). They enter the body through
the G.I. pass and are driven around on albumin jeeps (most common
protein jeeps) along with a number of other passengers. They pretty much
have clearance to go to a lot of places in the body (wide tissue
distribution). Can even go Trans placental.
a. Three subclasses of sulfonamides:
i. Sulfsoxazole: Short acting
ii. Sulfamethoxazole: Intermediate-acting
iii. Sulfadiazine: Long-acting
b. Sulfamethoxazole often teams up with another zookeeper
Trimethoprim and they (together) go on very, wide variety of
missions.