penicillin (redirected from penicillin-induced hemolytic anemia)

penicillin, any of a group of chemically similar substances obtained from molds of the genus Penicillium that were the first antibiotic agents to be used successfully in the treatment of bacterial infections in humans. The antagonistic effect of penicillin on bacteria was first observed by the Scottish biologist Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928. Although he recognized the therapeutic potential of penicillin, it was not until 1941 that a group of biologists working in England, including Oxford's Sir H. W. Florey and E. B. Chain, purified the substance and established its effectiveness against infectious organisms and its lack of toxicity to humans. The first successful treatment of a patient with penicillin occurred in New Haven, Conn., in 1942. Despite the development of hundreds of different antibiotics in recent decades, penicillin remains important in antibiotic therapy.

Small amounts of the antibiotic were first obtained from strains of the mold species P. notatum grown in fermentation bottles. During World War II need for the drug spurred development of better production methods; in the current method highly productive strains of Penicillium are grown in a cornsteep liquor medium in fermentation vats. The main form of penicillin produced by this method is benzylpenicillin, which, like all penicillins, is a derivative of 6-aminopenicillanic acid. Phenoxymethyl penicillin, which can be given orally because it is resistant to degradation by stomach acid, is produced by the species P. chrysogenum.

Effectiveness

Penicillin is effective against many gram-positive bacteria (see Gram's stain), including those that cause syphilis, meningococcal meningitis, gas gangrene, pneumococcal pneumonia, and some staphylococcal and streptococcal infections. Most gram-negative bacteria are resistant to the antibiotic, but some, such as the bacteria that cause gonorrhea, are susceptible, and others are responsive to high penicillin concentrations or to only certain classes of penicillins. Tuberculosis bacteria, protozoans, viruses, and most fungi are not affected by penicillin. The class of penicillins that includes ampicillin and amoxicillin with clavulanate (Augmentin) is active against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria such as Haemophilus influenzae and Escherichia coli. All penicillins act by interfering with synthesis of the cell wall.

Drug Resistance and Sensitivity

Use of penicillin is limited by the fact that, although it causes fewer side effects than many other antibiotics, it causes allergic sensitivity in many individuals, including skin reactions and allergic shock. In addition, many microorganisms have developed resistance to the penicillins, and serious hospital epidemics involving infants and surgical patients have been caused by penicillin-resistant staphylococci (see drug resistance). Some organisms are resistant because they produce an enzyme, penicillinase, that destroys the antibiotic. Synthetically produced penicillins such as methicillin and oxacillin have been developed that are not degraded by the penicillinase enzyme, but these new penicillins have no effect on bacteria that have developed resistance by other means, e.g., by altered cell wall structure. Other antibiotics, such as erythromycin, have become important in treating infections by microorganisms resistant to penicillin.

Bibliography

See E. Lax, The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle (2004).

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penicillin

Antibiotic derived from the Penicillium mold. It was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming; by 1940, Howard Walter Florey, Ernst Boris Chain, and others had produced commercial quantities that proved vital to the treatment of war casualties, making penicillin the first successful antibiotic for human bacterial infections. Many natural and semisynthetic (ampicillin, amoxicillin) variants have since been produced. All work by inhibiting the enzymes responsible for bacterial cell wall synthesis (and therefore do not work against microorganisms without cell walls or with certain variant cell walls; e.g., the tuberculosis bacillus). Among the bacteria susceptible to penicillin are those causing strep throat, spinal meningitis, gas gangrene, and syphilis. Overuse has led to drug resistance in some strains. Penicillin's chief side effect is allergy, which can be life-threatening.

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penicillin

any of a group of antibiotics with powerful bactericidal action, used to treat many types of infections, including pneumonia, gonorrhoea, and infections caused by streptococci and staphylococci: originally obtained from the fungus Penicillium, esp P. notatum. Formula: R-C₉H₁₁N₂O₄S where R is one of several side chains