Keyselmie A.
Jalipa
BSN I-BENNER
“Using antimicrobial agent to control microbial growth in vivo”
A. In a tabulated form, compare and contrast chemotherapeutic agents,
antimicrobial agents and antibiotics
Agents Compare
Chemotherapeutic Chemotherapeutic agent
agents refers to a synthetic
chemical.
Chemotherapeutic agents
(synthetic antibiotics):
antimicrobial agents of
synthetic origin useful in
the treatment of microbial
or viral disease. Examples
are sulfonilamides,
isoniazid, ethambutol,
AZT, nalidixic acid and
chloramphenicol.
Antimicrobial agents Products that act on
microbes in general.
Microbes encompass
different types of
organisms: bacteria, fungi,
viruses, protozoa.
Antibiotics agents Antibiotics specifically
target bacteria and are
used to treat bacterial
infections. The term
antibiotic strictly refers to
substances that are of
biological origin
Contrast
Chemotherapy is a type of
cancer treatment that uses
drugs to kill cancer cells.
These types of drugs are
called chemotherapeutic
agents. They work by
slowing or stopping the
growth of cancer cells.
Antimicrobial resistance is
a broader term,
encompassing resistance
to drugs to treat infections
caused by other microbes
As well, such as parasites
(e.g. malaria), viruses (e.g.
HIV) and fungi (e.g.
Candida).
Antibiotics are medicines
used to prevent and treat
bacterial infections.
Antibiotic resistance
occurs when bacteria
change in response to the
use of these medicines.
Bacteria, not humans,
become antibiotic
resistant. These bacteria
may then infect humans
and are harder to treat
than non-resistant
bacteria.
 B. Differentiate between bactericidal and bacteriostatic agents.
Bactericidal agents
Bactericidal products eliminate bacteria.
These agents “attack” microbes by affecting
the cell wall, lipids, enzymes, or protein
synthesis within the cell – sometimes even
completing a combination of these
mechanisms. By disrupting the cell wall
structure of existing cells and inhibiting the
formation of new cells, bactericidal
substances cause bacterial cells to die off,
therefore decreasing the amount found in
the individual affected. The mechanism of
bactericidal drugs destroys the bacterial cell
wall, while the bacteriostatic mechanism
inhibits protein synthesis.
C. Differentiate between narrow spectrum and broad spectrum antimicrobial
agent
Narrow spectrum
Narrow-spectrum antibiotics target a few
types of bacteria.
Broad spectrum antibiotics: Antibiotics
which kill (or) inhibit a wide range of gram-
positive and gram-negative bacteria are
called broad spectrum antibiotics.
Bacteriostatic agents
Bacteriostatic agents can achieve this by
obstructing the metabolic mechanisms of
the bacterial cell, in most cases targeting
the protein synthesis. While doing this does
not cause outright cell death, it does
effectively inhibit further growth and DNA
replication of the bacterial cells.
Bacteriostatic products keep bacterial
populations in check by inhibiting
replication. Bacteriostatic drugs can be
equally effective without any of the
bactericidal side effects, such as toxic
shock syndrome. The type of infection will
determine which class of antibiotic to use,
or even a combination of the two.
Broad spectrum
Broad-spectrum antibiotics target many
types of bacteria. Narrow spectrum
antibiotics: Antibiotics which are effective
mainly against gram-positive (or)gram-
negative bacteria are called narrow
spectrum antibiotics.