MCIM 224 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Drug Design, Plasmid, Semisynthesis
10 May 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Chemicals displaying selective toxicity towards bacteria (directly killing them, or only inhibiting further growth) Adverse reactions associated with antibiotic use: toxicity to host. After high-dose, long-term use eg. tetracycline discolored teeth: allergic reactions. Penicillin 1 - 3% of population is allergic: disruption of normal flora . Broad spectrum antibiotics kill the normal bacteria in gut. Eg: antibiotic-associated colitis due to clostridium difficile (aka. Present in very low numbers in gut of 3% of adults but kept in check by normal flora. Broad spectrum antibiotic use = excessive growth of c. difficile. Produces toxin damages gut cells & may perforate intestine (can lead to death) fecal-oral transmission. Case: a 31 year old woman who was 14 weeks pregnant went to a local emergency department after 3 weeks of intermittent diarrhea, followed by 3 days of cramping and watery, black stools 4-5 times daily. Stools specimens tested positive for clostridium difficile toxin, and the patient was admitted.
