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Penicillin Antibiotics Microorganism
Penicillin is one of the earliest discovered and widely used antibiotics today. Antibiotics come from the Natural substances that are released by bacteria and fungi and the antibiotic agents are derived from the penicillum mold. With a strong and long history dated back as early as 1500 B.C. this drug has saved so many lives and made way for improvements. That is why they gave penicillin the name “The wonder drug”.
The definition of an antibiotic is “an agent produced by a microorganism or semisynthetically that has ability to inhibit the growth of or kill microorganism”. The term antibiotics arise from “antibiosis and related specifically to chemical substances derived from molds or bacteria that have lethal or inhibitory effect on the microorganism. Antibiotics are chemical compounds, which derived from or produced by living organism.
The antibiotic production characterized the metabolism of various types of microorganisms. Even today, the soil-inhibiting organism has been the most potent source of antibiotic substance3. In many ways, penicillin is the most remarkable of the drugs which has been studied longer and more extensively than any other antibiotics. The study and observations of penicillin gave us more information that has been obtained because of its widespread use and it still serves as the standard reference to the new and upcoming antibiotics. Penicillin consists of a group of natural and semisynthetic agents are active agents’ gram negative and positive cocci (spears) and bacilli (rods).
Penicillin acts by blocking the synthesis of the bacterial cell wall and is both a bactericidal and bacteriostatic3. Bacteria are the most susceptible to penicillin during the rapid growth phase. Research has shown that penicillin bind reversibly with enzymes called “penicillin- binding proteins” outside the bacterial cytoplasmic membranes. Penicillin has a greater effectiveness toward the gram-positive bacteria, on the other hand the gram-negative bacteria has an outer membrane around the cell wall that limits the penicillin-binding proteins permeability. Today’s penicillin has an increased ability to penetrate the bacteria’s outer membrane and now more effective against the gram-negative bacteria6 .
The discovery of penicillin is stated by many as a “miracle drug”. It is noted based on historical records that penicillin was originated as early as 1500 B.C, were they described the use of molds and fermented materials to treat various kinds of diseases. The year of 1871, Joseph Lister who was an English surgeon observed a urine sample that had a certain mold that prohibited the growth of bacteria. Then in 1874, a man by the name William Roberts, observed that bacterial contamination is generally absent in the culture of Penicillium glaucum. Immunologist Louis Pasteur who is also known as the “man of cures” that in the year of 1877 he put forth the “germ theory of disease”, which this theory is known as a diseases that was caused by a microorganism.
You can get expert help with your essays right now. Find out more...This also led for the search of the “magic bullet” or a search to find something that kills off disease with out harming the person or animals infected. Then in 1878 he noted the “antagonistic effect of other bacterial of the anthrax organism”. In the year of 1897, Ernest Duchesnes observations focused on how the bacteria was eliminated by the fungus, when both were grown on the same culture. There are two unknown scientist, Andre Gratia and Sara Doth, that in the 1920’s observed a fungal contamination in one of their Staphylococcus aureus culture that inhibit the growth of bacterium.
With all of these brilliant scientists leading the way to the discovery of penicillin, they set the crucial path for the "accidental” discovery by Alexander Fleming in the 1920’s. Alexander’s search of antibacterial agents was influenced by his service in the war. It was in 1922 that Fleming discovered “lysozyme” that is also known as the “little brother” of Penicillin. In 1928, the British bacteriologist, Fleming, observed that a Penicillium mold that was contaminating a “Petrie dish culture of Staphyloccic colonies was surrounded by a clear zone free of growth”. The “accidental” theory starts when Fleming prepared a colony Staphylococci in a petri dish for his research and then left his lab for a few days.
Upon his return to the lab he noticed that one of the covers to the petri dish shifted and mold had began to grow. Jones explained that Fleming did observed that the mold and Staphylococci colonies had produced a state of antibiosis8. This mold contained a potent antibacterial substance that was effective against a variety of gram-positive organisms and found to be nontoxic to animals. Even though Fleming was unable to isolate penicillin in the active form or produced potent preparation he still was able to record his discovery. Because of the lack of information from Fleming, many believed he really did not know what he actually discovered and the press ended up calling it the “yellow magic”.
In 1930 a British biochemist, Raistrick, continued Fleming’s work on Penicillium. During this year Raistrick discovered that penicillin was and “organic acid that could be extracted from acidified culture medium by ether and that the compound was thermolablile”. During this same period a professor of pathology, Dr. Howard Florey became interested in the research of lysozymes. In 1938, he came across Fleming’s observations on penicillin. Florey however, did not work alone; he had a team of highly educated scientists one of them being Dr. Ernst Chain.
They both had the desire to introduce a life-saving drug and devoted their years in perfecting penicillin. In 1940, Florey and his team “isolated penicillin in the form of brown, impure powder”. In this same year both Chain and Florey used penicillin in the treatment of diseases. They demonstrated that penicillin was the most “powerful chemotherapeutic agent known at that time”9. In the year of 1941 a greater interest in the developing penicillin and as World War II becomes more overwhelming every day in Europe.
With penicillin not fully completed and the U.S. going to enter in the war in a few months this gave a boost to finish the perfection of penicillin in the aid of saving lives. In 1942 the devastation required mass quantities of penicillin and at that moment scientist realized that Fleming’s original culture would not be enough to supply the desperate need for this wonder drug. Later, an outside strain of penicillin producing mold “for the submerged culture method was discovered growing on a cantaloupe”.
This is identified as Penicillum chrysogeum that produced two hundred times more than the original Penicillium notatum. With the new production the high quantity of penicillum allowed to treat seven million people a year. The production of penicillin finally perfected, Fleming had very little to do with penicillin but, Florey updated his finding and Fleming still discovered penicillin. So, in 1945 Fleming and Florey were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
Get help with your essay from our expert essay writers...There are many methods in the administration of penicillin. The first one is parenteral, where pure penicillin can be injected intravenously with out significant thrombophlebits. Jones explains that this method of continuous intravenous infusion of penicillin maintains a “more constant blood level than is possible by any other method”, but it may have possible difficulties. Today, most penicillin injections are administered by intermittent intramuscular injection.
The next type of administration of penicillin is done orally. However, penicillin does suppress the bacterial metabolism in the digestive tract of herbivore and not normally given by this method for therapeutic reasons. On the other hand, the oral method is much more applicable in man than in animals. Local administration is another type of method in giving penicillin. The use of local penicillin involves the drug being applied locally as a powder, solution, or an ointment. In prevention of an allergic reaction and induction to the resistance of penicillin, this should not be used locally or only until a bacteriologic diagnostic had been done.
In the treatment of bovine mastitis, you can administer penicillin both intramammarily and systemically. This is to the addition to infusing the mammary gland via the teat canal, some cases of bovine mastitis does require the systemic treatment with antibiotic and sulfonamides. One of the main thing in using penicillin is the possibility of milk contamination with antibiotic because can cause serious pubic health problem as well as the process of cheese making.
It is considered adulterant if the milk is not discarded for necessary period after penicillin has been infused intrammarily. When traces of milk and products of milk are sensitized subsequent penicillin therapy could and would induce a serious allergic reaction. With many farming animals such as horses, cows, sheep and swine penicillin should be administered at a minimal level of 5,000 units per pound of body weight and dose repeated. The importance of the proper selection of penicillin is to achieve optimal blood and tissue concentrations.
Even though penicillin for years has so many positive outcomes if used correctly, but there are disadvantages in using this antibiotic. The first disadvantage is the development of bacterial resistance and the second disadvantage is sensitizing the ability of penicillin and its involvement as a public health hazard if proper precautions are not performed.
As you can see penicillin has came along way from nothing to perfection. With the first use of penicillin in 1500 B.C, then with Fleming’s work with the petrie dish and his “accidental discovery”, and finally to the perfection of penicillin by Florey and his team of scientist. With so many ways to administer this antibiotic and having very little disadvantages is the reason why most Veterinarians and Doctors as well choose this antibiotic.
Now with the widely use of penicillin today this drug has saved so many lives by being a standard reference and making the way for new and even more effective drugs for the future. These are the many reasons why Penicillin is called the “Wonder Drug”.
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