Antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea mechanism for beta-lactam resistance. There have been over 200 beta-lactamases described and some of them are antibiotic specific. TEM-1 is a penicillinase specific for penicillins. This enzyme will bind to the beta-lactam ring which is a structural characteristic for beta-lactams and hydrolyze the ring. This renders the antibiotic inactive. The spread of the penicillinase resistance was much faster compared to the chromosomal-mediated resistance mechanisms. The plasmids containing TEM-1 could be passed from bacterium to bacterium via conjugation Quinolones are a class of synthetic antibiotics that inhibit DNA replication, recombination, and repair by interacting with the bacterial DNA gyrase and/or topoisomerase
Antibiotic synergy Antibiotic synergy Antibiotic synergy is one of three responses possible when two or more antibiotics are used simultaneously to treat an infection. In the synergistic response, the applied antibiotics work together to produce an effect more potent than if each antibiotic were applied singly. Compare to the additive effect, where the potency of an antibiotic combination is roughly equal to the combined potencies of each antibiotic singly, and antagonistic effect, where the potency of the combination is less than the combined potencies of each antibiotic. Clinical interest in synergism dates back to the early 1950s when practitioners noted that patients