Menu !

UNDERSTAND  –  ANTIBIOTICS

UNDERSTAND

Bacteria
Antibiotics How do antibiotics
work?
HOW DO ANTIBIOTICS
WORK?
History of antibiotic
development
Antibiotic resistance
How did we end up
here?
Why should I care? Antibiotics disrupt essential processes or structures in
What can I do? the bacterial cell. This either kills the bacterium or slows
RAISE AWARENESS down bacterial growth. Depending on these effects an
antibiotic is said to be bactericidal or bacteriostatic.
MEASURE

RATIONAL USE Bactericidal and bacteriostatic

PREVENT antibiotics
INFECTION
A bactericidal antibiotic kills the bacteria while the
POLICY bacteriostatic antibiotics stop bacterial growth without killing
them. The human immune system is then needed to clear the
i ABOUT THE infection.
TOOLBOX

Antibiotic targets in bacteria

Share the article
There are several classes of antibiotics with different
! ! ! !
mechanisms of action and bacterial targets. In principal, there
are three main antibiotic targets in bacteria:

1. The cell wall or membranes that surrounds the bacterial

cell
2. The machineries that make the nucleic acids DNA and
RNA
3. The machinery that produce proteins (the ribosome and
associated proteins)

These targets are absent or structurally different in human and

mammalian cells, which means that antibiotics usually do not
harm our cells. However, antibiotics can in some cases have
unpleasant side effects. Read more under Why should I care?
– Risks for the individual and society.

Differentclassesofantibiotics

B-Lactams Aminoglycosides Glycopeptides Ansamycins Quinolones Streptogramins

Inhibitbacteriacell Inhibitthesynthesisof Inhibitbacteriacell Inhibitthesynthesis Interferewithbacteria

Inhibitthesynthesisof
wallbiosynthesis proteinsbybacteria wallbiosynthesis ofRNAbybacteria DNAreplicationand proteinsbybacteria
transcription
Examples Examples Examples Examples Examples Examples
Amoxicillin Streptomycin Vancomvcin Geldanamycin Ciprofloxacin PristinamycinIIA
Flucloxacillin Neomycin Teicoplanin Rifamycin Levofloxacin PristinamycinIA
Cefalexin Kanamycin Naphthomycin Trovafloxacin
Paromomycin

Lipopeptides Sulfonamides Chloramphenicol Tetracyclines Macrolides Oxazolidinones

Disruptmultiplecell Preventbacteria Inhibitssynthesisof Inhibitssynthesisof Inhibitsprotein Inhibitssynthesisof

membranefunctions growthand proteins proteinsbybacteria synthesisbybacteria proteinsbybacteria
multiplication

Examples Examples Examples Examples Examples

Daptomycin Prontosil Nolongerafirstline Tetracycline Erythromycin Linezolid
Surfactin Sulfanilamide druginany Doxycycline Clarithromycin Posizolid
Sulfadiazine developedcountry Lymecvcline Azithromycin Tedizolid
Sulfisoxazole Oxytetracycline Cycloserine

Commonlyactasbactericidalagents,causinabacterialcelldeath Commonlyactasbacteriostaticagents,restrictgrowth&multiplication

Figure 1. Types and classes of antibiotics.

Narrow-spectrum and broad-

spectrum antibiotics
Antibiotics can either have a narrow or broad spectrum of
activity. Narrow-spectrum antibiotics are more specific and
are only active against certain groups or strains of bacteria.
Broad-spectrum antibiotics instead inhibit a wider range of
bacteria. Narrow-spectrum antibiotics are generally preferable
since the effect on other non-disease causing bacteria is
more limited. Unfortunately, broad-spectrum antibiotics are
often used since it can be difficult for doctors to diagnose the
infectious agent due to a lack of training and/or available
diagnostic tools. For more information, see How did we end
up here – Use and inappropriate use – In human medicine.

See also these selected resources for more details on

different antibiotics and their mechanisms of action.

Selected Resources
Resource Description

Eric’s Medical Lectures: Video. Narrated lecture about

Mechanisms and classification of antibiotics and their mechanism of
antibiotics [1] action (24 min, YouTube).

[2]
How antibiotics work Video. Short video describing the
difference between bacteriostatic
and bactericidal antibiotics. Outlines
why antibiotics are not effective
against viruses (3 min, YouTube).

A brief overview of classes of Fact sheet. Short description of

antibiotics [3] different classes of antibiotics and
their mode of action.

Antibiotics and bacterial Journal article with short descriptions

[4]
resistance in the 21st century of clinically used antibiotic classes
as well as examples of bacterial
resistance mechanisms.

Antimicrobial Resistance Learning Educational material. Learn about

Site – Pharmacology [5] concepts related to medical use of
antimicrobials and of resistance.

More from "Antibiotics"

How do antibiotics work?
History of antibiotic development

Bibliography
1. Strong Medicine. Mechanisms and Antibiotics. Compound Interest http://www.com-

Classification of Antibiotics (Antibiotics - Lecture poundchem.com/2014/09/08/antibiotics/.

3). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGw- 4. Fair, R. J. & Tor, Y. Antibiotics and bacterial

P471sehI&feature=youtube_gdata_player resistance in the 21st century. Perspect Medicin

(2013). Chem 6, 25–64 (2014).

2. Public Health England. How antibiotics work. 5. University of Minnesota & Michigan State

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1GT2bKg- University. Antimicrobial resistance learning site.

ci8 (2014). Antimicrobial Resistance Learning Site

3. Compoundchem. A Brief Overview of Classes of https://amrls.umn.edu/.

National Action Plans Movement Building

Globally Coordinated Governance

Public Health Driven Innovation

Stay on top of the latest news in antibiotic resistance:

 Sign up for our Newsletter  on Facebook  on Twitter  on LinkedIn

ReAct is funded by SIDA, Uppsala University and others. You can Pilih Bahasa ▼
donate to support ReAct’s work. Information on the site is for educational purposes Automatic translation by Google.
only. Read ReAct’s privacy policy. The site uses cookies. Sitemap. Image credits. Limitations and info.