Antiboitics can be classified into different types based on different classification modes.

The first classification is according to the spectrum: The spectrum means the number of the organisms affected by the same drug.

Broad Spectrum Antibiotics: The Broad spectrum antibiotics affect several types of bacteria and fungi and it is usually used where the specific type of the microorganism is unknown.

Narrow spectrum antibiotics: Narrow spectrum antibiotics are used only when we know the specific type of the microorganism. These are more effective on specific microorganisms but less effective on others.

The second classification is according to the type of the action of antibiotics. Antibiotics can be divided into two classes based on their mechanism of action.

Bactericidal antibodies: They kill bacteria by inhibiting cell wall synthesis.

Examples include:

Beta-lactam antibiotics (penicillin derivatives (penams),

cephalosporins (cephems), monobactams,

and carbapenems) and vancomycin.

Also bactericidal are daptomycin, fluoroquinolones, metronidazole, nitrofurantoin, co-trimoxazole, telithromycin.

Bacteriostatic antibiotics: They limit the growth of bacteria by interfering with bacterial protein production, DNA replication, or other aspects of bacterial cellular metabolism. They must work together with the immune system to remove the microorganisms from the body. However, there is not always a precise distinction between them and bactericidal antibiotics. High concentrations of some bacteriostatic agents are also bactericidal, whereas low concentrations of some bacteriocidal agents are bacteriostatic.

This group includes:

tetracyclines , sulfonamides, spectinomycin, trimethoprim, chloramphenicol,macrolides and lincosamides.

Another classification is according to the chemical structure:

Penicillins such as penicillin and amoxicillin

Cephalosporins such as cephalexin (Keflex)

Macrolides such as erythromycin (E-Mycin), clarithromycin (Biaxin), and azithromycin (Zithromax)

Fluoroquinolones such as ofloxacin (Cipro), levofloxacin (Levaquin), and ofloxacin (Floxin)

Sulfonamides such as co-trimoxazole (Bactrim) and trimethoprim (Proloprim)

Tetracyclines such as tetracycline (Sumycin, Panmycin) and doxycycline (Vibramycin)

Aminoglycosides such as gentamicin (Garamycin) and tobramycin (Tobrex)

 To browse further related information, please click here

• Share this page
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•