Antibiotic Development Essay Example

Developing antibiotics is a very challenging field since every drug developed should reach and perform its task within the body. Antibiotics travel through the bloodstream and enter body cells. They are proteins which exist in the blood and combine chemicals which reduce the amount of drug that reaches the target. Antibiotics are the physical barriers which body chemicals come across. There are three hypotheses which explain why an antibiotic may not be effective.

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The first hypothesis is that antibiotic resistance emerges when some bacteria possess mutations which allow them to survive the antibacterial attack. It is the primary cause of antibiotic ineffectiveness. Antibiotic resistance causes the failure of an antibiotic to treat a disease, making it ineffective. Antibiotics should fight microbial organisms and overcoming some extra defences. It reduces the effectiveness of drug arsenal against medical invaders. Bacteria are becoming increasingly to antibiotics (Kohanski, Dwyer, & Collins, 2010).

The second hypothesis is that bacteria do not also want DNA to take up. They, however, seem not to 'want' DNA as they continuously break the DNA up. Bacteria consume more DNA because of increased motility in response to the pressure that antibiotic subjects them to. Its lack of specificity strengthens the effect of antibiotic effect because it transpires both in the object pathogen and in other bacteria.

The final hypothesis is that bacteria consume DNA from other antibiotic-resistance which could succumb due to other environmental factors. Kohanski, Dwyer and Collins (2010) says that the bacteria consume it all up and develop a resistant to that particular antibiotic. It means that there is a possibility of those particular bacteria to continue adding to their arsenal of resistance to the antibiotic. The result of this action is the bacteria ending up being resilient to an extensive range of antibiotics. The situation is referred to as multi-resistant strain, and the case creates havoc in many operating theatres.

In developing an antibiotic, its characteristics would consider some factors. One of the traits is the protein structure if the bacteria. Bacterial cells have cell walls which are protein based. However, animal cells lack cell walls. Antibiotics such as penicillin and vancomycin target this protection (Duke University, 2017). The molecular structures of the cell walls are unknown. Proteins which make up the cell walls are essential for protecting it from attack. An understanding of the cell wall enables the development of new antibiotics despite the emerging cases of antibiotics resistance. The cell wall consists of peptidoglycan which is a rigid mesh-like material. Understanding the structure of MurJ helps in understanding how the transporter works and how to develop an inhibitor which targets this transporter. The development of new antibiotics is becoming more complex, more costly and also more time-consuming. The antibiotics also represent a poor return on investments in connection with other range of drugs. It is essential to understand how bacteria interact. The concept of interaction is the same as Venn diagrams, meaning that they cannot be considered in isolation.

In addition, disease processes is another characteristic of antibiotic development. Spellberg, Bartlett and Gilbert (2013) explains that understanding a disease is the first step of developing a treatment for that particular disease. Almost every infection has a unique natural history which depends on the time frame and specific manifestations of the disease. These vary from one person to another, and preventive and therapeutic measures influence it. Disease process impacts the development of antibiotics in some ways. Disease process involves the infection stage, incubation period, initial symptoms, acute stage and recovery. Antibiotics help in the elimination of the pathogens, or disease-causing agents from the body, allowing a patient to return to the normal condition. Antibiotics enable patients to eliminate infectious agents from their body, damaging the immune system. The bodies develop resistance when it forms an autoimmune disease where the body attacks its cells.

Another characteristic of the antibacterial would be the development of the state of existence of the bacteria. It is related to resistance patterns. Ventola (2015) assert that the patterns of survival depend on multiplying and non-multiplying states. For instance, biofilms encompass both multiplying and non-multiplying bacteria. Human infections include a significant proportion of both multiplying and non-multiplying bacteria. Antibiotics easily kill these micro-organisms. The multiplying bacteria, however, die in the presence of the antibiotics and non-multiplying bacteria survive.

Finally, the last characteristic of the developed antibiotic would depend on the spectrum of disease coverage. It refers to the process through which a disease process results to illness which ranges from mild to severe or fatal. The spectrum of disease consists of asymptomatic and soft cases (Duke University, 2017). There are pan drug-resistant organisms which are resistant to all antibiotics. Such microorganisms cause infections which leads to high death rates despite the available therapy. Humanity and microbes also continue to evolve, and the diseases continue to kill many patients. Development of antibiotics, therefore, is among the strategies for prevention and treatments.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is essential for all clinicians and pharmacists to understand the principles and standard methods of developing antibiotics, and antibiotic susceptibility tests to understand antibiotic resistance which is a common challenge in the administration of drugs in the medical field. The information would help medical practitioners who employ antibiotic therapy to manage infectious diseases and enhance better outcomes in the medical field.

References

Duke University. (2017, January 11). Bacterial protein structure could aid development of new antibiotics: Scientists solve structure of sought-after bacterial protein. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 8, 2018 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170111184517.htm

Kohanski, M. A., Dwyer, D. J., & Collins, J. J. (2010). How antibiotics kill bacteria: from targets to networks. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 8(6), 423.

Spellberg, B., Bartlett, J. G., & Gilbert, D. N. (2013). The future of antibiotics and resistance. New England Journal of Medicine, 368(4), 299-302.

Ventola, C. L. (2015). The antibiotic resistance crisis: part 1: causes and threats. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 40(4), 277.