Antibiotic resistance can be defined as the ability of bacteria or other microbes to resist the effects of an antibiotic.

Antibiotic resistance occurs when the bacteria change in some way that reduces the effectiveness of drug chemicals or other agents designed to cure or prevent.

Now we will learn about some important terms which will help us to understand antibiotic resistance.

Superbug: A strain of bacteria that has become resistant to all antibiotic drug.

Example: Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Influx: Movement of ions into cells is called influx.

Efflux: Movement of ions out of the cells is called efflux.

Why is clavulanic acid is added to penicillin?

Clavulanic acid is a β-lactam drug that functions as a mechanism based β-lactamase inhibitor. While not effective by itself as an antibiotic, when combined with penicillin group antibiotics. It can overcome antibiotic resistance in bacteria that secrete β-lactamase, which otherwise inactivates most penicillin.

Write down the impact of antibiotic resistance in medical science

Antibiotics provide effective treatment for a wide variety of infections and illnesses. Unfortunately, antibiotic resistance makes these things more difficult to treat.

The impact of antibiotic resistance are-

1. The danger of antibiotic resistance is that treatable illness. Such as pneumonia, tuberculosis.
2. Antibiotic resistance results in a decreased ability to treat infections and illness in people, animals, plants.
3. It increased human illness, suffering and death.
4. Increased the cost and length of treatment.
5. Increased side effects from the use of multiple and more powerful medications.

Briefly describe the mechanism of antimicrobial/antibiotic resistance

There are four fundamental mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance. They are-

1. Enzymatic degradation of antibacterial dugs: It is produced enzyme that degrades the antibiotic, thereby inactivating.

For example: The penicillinases are a group of β-lactamase enzymes that cleve the β-lactam ring of the penicillin molecule. The development of resistance is inevitable following the introduction of a new antibiotic.

1. Alteration of bacterial proteins that are antimicrobial targets: It has become a widely used drug resistance mechanism for bacteria. The modification mechanism often results in an alteration of the original drug target structure, so that the drug binds poorly or not at all.
2. Changes in membrane permeability to antimicrobial targets: A defining characteristic of gram-negative bacteria is the presence of an additional barrier inhibiting the penetration of toxic chemicals. Such as antibiotic. Porins are membrane proteins associated with the modulation of cellular permeability and antibiotic resistance.
3. Generation of efflux pump: All microorganisms have highly conserved DNA sequence in their genome that are transcribed and translated to efflux pumps.

What are the causes of antimicrobial resistance?

There are two type causes of antimicrobial resistance.

1. Natural (Biological) causes-

1. Selective pressure: In the presence of an antimicrobial, microbes are either killed or, if they carry resistance genes, survive. These survivors will replicate and their progeny will quickly become the dominant type throughout the microbial population.
2. Mutation: During replication, mutations arise and some of these mutations may help an individual microbe survive exposure to an antimicrobial.
3. Gene transfer: Bacteria that have drug resistant DNA may transfer a copy of these genes to other bacteria. Non-resistant bacteria receive the new DNA and become resistant to drug.

2. Societal pressure-

1. Inappropriate use: Selection of resistant microorganisms is exacerbated by inappropriate use of antimicrobials.
2. Inadequate diagnostics: These situations contribute to selective pressure and accelerate antimicrobial resistance.
3. Hospital use: The extensive use of antimicrobials and close contact among sick patients creates a fertile environment for the spread of antimicrobial resistant germs.
4. Agricultural use: Half of the antibiotics produced in the United States are used for agricultural purposes. Drug resistant microbes in animals pose a significant public health burden.

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