Beta-lactam antibiotics
Class of broad-spectrum antibiotics / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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β-lactam antibiotics (beta-lactam antibiotics) are antibiotics that contain a beta-lactam ring in their chemical structure. This includes penicillin derivatives (penams), cephalosporins and cephamycins (cephems), monobactams, carbapenems[1] and carbacephems.[2] Most β-lactam antibiotics work by inhibiting cell wall biosynthesis in the bacterial organism and are the most widely used group of antibiotics. Until 2003, when measured by sales, more than half of all commercially available antibiotics in use were β-lactam compounds.[3] The first β-lactam antibiotic discovered, penicillin, was isolated from a strain of Penicillium rubens (named as Penicillium notatum at the time).[4][5]
β-lactam antibiotic | |
---|---|
Drug class | |
Class identifiers | |
Use | Bacterial infection |
ATC code | J01C |
Biological target | Penicillin binding protein |
External links | |
MeSH | D047090 |
Legal status | |
In Wikidata |
Bacteria often develop resistance to β-lactam antibiotics by synthesizing a β-lactamase, an enzyme that attacks the β-lactam ring. To overcome this resistance, β-lactam antibiotics can be given with β-lactamase inhibitors such as clavulanic acid.[6]