INFECTOUS DISEASES Investigate the Treatment of Infectious Diseases

INFECTOUS DISEASES Investigate the Treatment of Infectious Diseases

DRUGS USED FOR TREATMENT l Drugs used to treat bacterial diseases can be grouped into categories based on their modes of action l Penicillins/cephalosporins: interfere with certain layers of the cell wall l Chloramphenicol, tetracyclines, erythromycins: may be toxic when used in high doses or prolonged periods of time l Rifampin: used for treatment of TB

DRUGS FOR VIRAL INFECTIONS l l l Drugs that effectively inhibit viral infections are highly toxic to host cells because viruses use the host’s metabolic enzymes in reproduction Antiviral drugs: target virus-specific enzymes Acyclovir: used in the treatment of genital herpes Amantadine: used to prevent or moderate influenza AZT: inhibit replication of HIV genome

DEVELOPMENT OF DRUGS l Development of drugs used to treat fungal, protozoan, and helminthic diseases are also highly toxic to mammals l -azole derivatives inhibit sterol synthesis (ex. fluconazole) l Amphotericin B: disrupts cell membrane

ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE Antimicrobial resistance presents ongoing problems in the fight against infectious diseases l Penicillin resistance noted as early as 1943 l Mycobacterium tuberculosis: some strands resistant to all drugs l Resistance to antibiotics: result of changes in genetic information l ¡ ¡ ¡ Initially as mutations to existing genes Many bacteria acquire these genes Resistant genes are transferred to other members of same species