antimicrobial

Examples of antimicrobial in the following topics:

• Mechanisms of Resistance

  • Development of microbial resistance to antimicrobial agents requires alterations in the microbe's cell physiology and structure.
  • An example of antimicrobial resistance mediated by anaerobic atmosphere is the shutdown of bacterial protein synthesis by aminoglycosides.
  • Development of microbial resistance to antimicrobial agents requires alterations in the microbe's cell physiology and structure.
  • Some common pathways bacteria use to effect antimicrobial resistance include: enzymatic degradation or modification of the antimicrobial agent, decreased uptake or accumulation of the antimicrobial agent, altered antimicrobial target, circumvention of consequences of antimicrobial actions, uncoupling of antimicrobial agent-target interaction, or any combination of these mechanisms.
  • Describe the mechanisms bacteria use to develop antimicrobial resistance and the factors that can lead to it

• Antimicrobial Peptides

  • In contrast to the clonal, acquired adaptive immunity, endogenous peptide antibiotics or antimicrobial peptides provide a fast and energy-effective mechanism as front-line defense.
  • Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small molecular weight proteins with broad spectrum antimicrobial activity against bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
  • In addition to important antimicrobial properties, growing evidence indicates that AMPs alter the host immune response through receptor-dependent interactions.

• Synthetic Antimicrobial Drugs

  • Disinfectants are antimicrobial substances used on non-living objects or outside the body.
  • Antimicrobials include not just antibiotics, but synthetically formed compounds as well.
  • Now, most of these infections can be cured easily with a short course of antimicrobials.
  • However, with the development of antimicrobials, microorganisms have adapted and become resistant to previous antimicrobial agents.
  • Recall the synthetic antimicrobial drugs that are sulfonamide and sulphonamide based

• Finding New Antimicrobial Drugs

  • Antimicrobial resistance has created a public health crisis in the treatment of infectious diseases and necessitates the discovery of new drugs.
  • Research on new antimicrobial compounds is geared towards innovative targets to circumvent resistance.
  • The initiative to develop new antimicrobial agents is urgently needed but is a long process from invention, to development, to actual clinical application.
  • It is also necessary to initiate a worldwide awareness on antibiotic misuse and overuse as a mean to address the root of the problem for antimicrobial resistance.
  • Explain the reasons for low production of new antibiotics and discuss the proposed mechanisms to evade antimicrobial resistance

• Antimicrobial Proteins

  • Antimicrobial peptides are an evolutionarily conserved component of the innate immune response and are found among all classes of life.
  • Antimicrobial peptides are a unique and diverse group of molecules.
  • Other antimicrobial mechanisms include intracellular binding models.
  • Other forms of antimicrobial resistance include producing enzymes that inhibit the antimicrobial peptides, altering the hydrophobic forces on the cell membrane, and capturing antimicrobial peptides in vesicles on the cell membrane to remove them from the bacterium.
  • Describe the role of antimicrobial peptides in the innate immune system

• Antimicrobial Peptides

  • Antimicrobial peptides are an evolutionarily conserved component of the innate immune response and are found among all classes of life.
  • Fundamental differences exist between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells that may represent targets for antimicrobial peptides.
  • Antimicrobial peptides generally consist of between 12 and 50 amino acids.
  • This amphipathicity of the antimicrobial peptides allows the partition of the membrane lipid bilayer.
  • Several methods have been used to determine the mechanisms of antimicrobial peptide activity.

• Inhibiting Nucleic Acid Synthesis

  • Antimicrobial drugs inhibit nucleic acid synthesis through differences in prokaryotic and eukaryotic enzymes.
  • Antimicrobial drugs can target nucleic acid (either RNA or DNA) synthesis.
  • Antimicrobial drugs have been developed to target each of these steps.
  • For example, the antimicrobial rifampin binds to DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, thereby inhibiting the initiation of RNA transcription.
  • Any of the steps in the process of DNA replication can be targeted by antimicrobial drugs.

• Naturally Occurring Antimicrobial Drugs: Antibiotics

  • Disinfectants are antimicrobial substances used on non-living objects or outside the body.
  • Now, most of these infections can be cured easily with a short course of antimicrobials.
  • However, with the development of antimicrobials, microorganisms have adapted and become resistant to previous antimicrobial agents.
  • Antimicrobial nanotechnology is a recent addition to the fight against disease causing organisms.
  • Discuss the mechanism of action for protein synthesis inhibitors used as antimicrobial drugs, and recognize various naturally occuring antimicrobial drugs

• Origins of Antimicrobial Drugs

  • The era of antimicrobials begins when Pasteur and Joubert discover that one type of bacteria could prevent the growth of another.
  • The history of antimicrobials begins with the observations of Pasteur and Koch, who discovered that one type of bacteria could prevent the growth of another.
  • The discovery of antimicrobials like penicillin by Alexander Fleming and tetracycline paved the way for better health for millions around the world.
  • Now, most of these infections can be cured easily with a short course of antimicrobials.

• Suppression and Alteration of Microbiota by Antimicrobials

  • Our bodies depend upon, and host, a vast number of complex microbial flora that can be affected negatively by antimicrobial treatments.
  • This is especially a problem when broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents are used, as antimicrobial treatments while helping to clear up pathogenic microbes from the body will often kill symbiotic bacteria.
  • Antimicrobial agents which can kill beneficial gut flora can reduce the numbers of individual microbes or reduce the species of beneficial bacteria.
  • Fortunately there are antimicrobial agents that specifically target pathogenic bacterial species, which opposed to broad-spectrum treatments can reduce harmful effects on beneficial microbes.
  • Sometimes the use of broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents is unavoidable; in these situations, consuming foods such as yogurt which contains beneficial bacteria can replenish the body's symbiotic microbes.