Abstract
Although the individual modes of resistance to antimicrobial drugs are very diverse, they can be grouped into a limited set of general mechanisms that account for most types of resistance encountered in medical practice. These include:
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1.
conversion of the active drug to an inactive derivative by enzyme(s) synthesized by the resistant cells;
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2.
loss of sensitivity of the drug target site as a result of:
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(a)
covalent modification by enzyme activity in the resistant cells
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(b)
mutation(s) affecting the target, or
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(c)
acquisition of genetic information encoding either a drug-resistant form of the target enzyme or overproduction of the drug-sensitive enzyme.
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(a)
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3.
Removal of the drug from the cellular interior by drug efflux systems located in the cell envelope.
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© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Franklin, T.J., Snow, G.A. (1998). Biochemical mechanisms of resistance to antimicrobial drugs. In: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Antimicrobial Drug Action. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4599-3_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4599-3_9
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