Antimicrobial substances

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Antimicrobial substances ( English antimicrobial agents ) are chemical substances that reduce the reproductive capacity or infectivity of microorganisms or kill or inactivate them.

The antimicrobial substances that are used as a specific drug in the event of an infectious disease or infection as a preventative antimicrobial prophylaxis include antibiotics against bacteria ( antibacterial substances) and antimycotics against fungi and pathogenic yeasts (e.g. Candida spp. ). These antimicrobial substances are sometimes also referred to as antimicrobials ( singular : antimicrobial ).

In addition to these substance groups, which are used for immediate specific therapy, all disinfectants are also antimicrobial substances. In addition to the pathogens mentioned above, these can also inactivate viruses . There are also technically produced surface structures that have an antimicrobial effect due to a disinfecting effect (e.g. silver and copper ) or by means of nanostructures made of titanium dioxide (cf. photocatalytic self-cleaning ).

The use of antimicrobial substances has reduced the mortality of patients with infectious diseases . Ill-considered use led to the development of resistance .

Antimicrobial substances are also found as natural substances in higher organisms for unspecific defense against bacteria and fungi - such as antimicrobial peptides and the lysozyme in vertebrates , various substances in insects (see e.g. swimming beetles ). Antimicrobial defense substances in plants are, for example, the phytoalexins .

See also

literature

  • Marianne Abele-Horn: Antimicrobial Therapy. Decision support for the treatment and prophylaxis of infectious diseases. With the collaboration of Werner Heinz, Hartwig Klinker, Johann Schurz and August Stich, 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Peter Wiehl, Marburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-927219-14-4 .
  • Helmut Hahn , Dietrich Falke , Stefan HE Kaufmann , Uwe Ullmann: Medical microbiology and infectious diseases. 5th, completely updated edition. Springer, Heidelberg et al. 2004, ISBN 3-540-21971-4 .
  • J. Zemek, M. Valent, M. Podova, B. Kosikova, D. Joniak: Antimicrobial properties of aromatic compounds of plant origin. In: Folia Microbiologica. Vol. 32, No. 5, 1987, ISSN  0015-5632 , pp. 421-425, PMID 3121479 , doi : 10.1007 / BF02887573

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Marianne Abele-Horn: Antimicrobial Therapy. Decision support for the treatment and prophylaxis of infectious diseases. 2009, p. 13.