Penicillin antibiotics are a group of antibacterial substances produced by a fungal culture of the genus Penicillium. Today they are an effective means of chemotherapy and antibiotic therapy. Like cephalosporins, penicillin antibiotics are beta-lactam drugs. Possessing a strong bactericidal effect and a high degree of activity against gram-positive microorganisms, they have a quick and extremely powerful effect, affecting pathogenic bacteria mainly in the proliferation phase.
A characteristic feature of drugs of this group is their ability to invade living cells and have a neutralizing effect on pathogens that have settled inside them. This trait is related to cephalosporins antibiotics with penicillins, compared with which they have a slightly greater resistance to beta-lactamases - special protective enzymes produced by pathogens.
The discovery of penicillin by the efforts of the English microbiologist Alexander Fleming in 1929 produced one of the greatest revolutions in medicine. It has become possible to effectively treat many diseases that were considered fatal for centuries - for example, pneumonia. And the role of penicillin in World War II is generally enormous and worthy of a separate scientific study.
For the first time, the idea of finding a substance that adversely affects microorganisms, but is completely safe for humans, was formulated and implemented at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries by the founder of chemotherapy, Paul Erlich. A similar substance, in his apt remark, is like a "magic bullet." Such chemical compounds were soon found among derivatives of some synthetic dyes. Having received the name "chemotherapy", they began to be widely used in the treatment of syphilis. And although they were very far from modern penicillins in terms of efficiency and safety, they were the first precursors of antibiotic therapy in a modern sense.
Current penicillin antibiotics are highly effective against anaerobic microorganisms. This is especially true of the so-called superpenicillins (azlocillin, piperacillin, meslocillin and others), as well as third-generation cephalosporins, which are often used to prevent possible postoperative complications. Today, powerful penicillin antibiotics are used to treat children, pregnant women, the elderly, patients suffering from kidney failure and various types of acute nonspecific epididymitis.
Despite all the advances in modern pharmacology and the relative perfection of penicillin preparations, Paul Ehrlich’s cherished dream of an “ideal magic pool” is unlikely to be realized, since even table salt in excessive amounts is harmful. What can we say about such powerful and dangerous drugs as penicillin antibiotics! The side effects of these antibacterial agents include the possibility of developing various allergic, toxic reactions and impaired gastrointestinal function.