preview

Penicillin : A Class Of Drugs

Best Essays

Content
Antibiotics

Introduction

Discovery

Structure

Mechanism of action

Class of drug

Medical use

Adverse effect

Antibiotics:
 Antibiotics is the chemical substances which derived from living organisms that are capable to inhibit or kill the other living organism’s life process.
 The first antibiotics were isolated from microorganisms but some are now obtained from higher plants and animals.
 Over 3,000 antibiotics have been identified but only a few dozen are used in medicine.
 Antibiotics are the most widely prescribed class of drugs comprising 12% of the prescriptions in the United States.
 A common scheme of classifications for antibiotics is drawn below:

Introduction of penicillin:

 Penicillin are a class of beta-lactam antibiotics.
 Penicillin was the first antibiotic discovered from the mold Penicillium notatum in 1928 by Alexander Fleming at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, England.
 The structure of penicillin is a nucleus consisting of a beta-lactam ring (4 membered cyclic amide) and a side chain. The beta-lactam ring is necessary for antibacterial activity, and the side chain determines the antibacterial spectrum and pharmacologic properties.
 Beta-lactamases (also called penicillinases) are enzymes that deactivate penicillin by destroying the beta-lactam ring by hydrolysis. Beta-lactamases allow bacteria to be resistant to penicillin.
 Various penicillin differ mainly by the structure of the side chain.
 In addition to their

Get Access