LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Antibiotics: Drugs
built 646 days ago
Antibiotics are drugs which kill or stop the growth of bacteria. In most cases, an antibiotic will only have an affect on certain types of bacteria - such as Strep (Streptococcus species) or Staph (Staphylococcus species) - and may not have an affect on others.
Source:
NEW HAVEN, Conn., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company that is designing and developing next generation antibiotics, today announced the issuance of four U.S. patents (U.S. patent number 6,952,650, 6,947,845, 6,947,844, and 6,939,848). Rib-X was founded to use high resolution crystal structures of the 50S ribosomal subunit and novel, proprietary structure-based drug design approaches to efficiently design new classes of antibiotics that are active against drug- resistant bacteria. The ribosome, found in all cells, is a complex of protein and RNA which promotes protein synthesis, and its 50S subunit has long been known to be a valuable, clinically relevant antibiotic target. This growing patent estate reinforces the Company's significance to the important area of antibiotic drug development.
Source:
With the increasing number of available quinolone antibiotics, prescribing these drugs has become a challenge. Compared with older quinolones such as norfloxacin (Noroxin) and ciprofloxacin (Cipro), the newer agents have an expanded antimicrobial spectrum and new indications. The most recently released agents have significant antimicrobial activity against gram-positive streptococci, atypical pathogens and anaerobes. The new classification of quinolone antibiotics by generation can help family physicians prescribe these agents appropriately and evaluate new drugs as they are introduced.1
Source:
It is believed that antibiotics interfere with the surface of bacteria cells,causing a change in their ability to reproduce. Testing the action of an antibiotic in the laboratory shows how much exposure to the drug is necessary todecrease reproduction or to kill the bacteria. Although a large dose of an antibiotic taken at one time might kill the bacteria causing an illness, the dose would most likely cause severe side effects. Therefore, antibiotics are given in a series of smaller doses. This method assures that the bacteria areeither killed or reduced enough in number so that the body can repel them. Onthe other hand, when too little antibiotic is taken, bacteria can develop methods to protect themselves against it. Thus the next time the antibiotic isneeded against these bacteria, it will not be effective.
Source:
These putative inhibitors represent a new and novel class of antibiotics that can kill certain pathogenic microorganisms, especially those resistant to current antibiotics. This novel class of antibiotics is not based on the inhibitions of DNA, RNA, protein, or cell wall synthesis. This novel class is based on the disruption of a metabolic step that is required for the viability and/or infectivity of the pathogenic organism. These new antibiotics will improve the morality and morbidity caused by a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms, especially those that have exhibited multiple drug resistance.
Source:
When bacteria are exposed to small amounts of antibiotics, the antibiotics can actually make the bacteria stronger. This is because while some microorganisms die off as a result of the antibiotic, not enough of the drug is present to kill the stronger bacteria. As a result, the stronger bacteria live on, adapt to living with low levels of antibiotics, and multiply. These stronger bacteria are called “resistant bacteria” because they’ve adapted to surviving with the antibiotics, and therefore antibiotics can’t kill them. As a result, traditional antibiotics are losing their effectiveness in the battle against infectious diseases. Some strains of tuberculosis, for example, have become resistant to common antibiotics.ii
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Drugs