QuestionSBA
QuestionChoice
This is the mechanism of action of trimethoprim, an antibiotic used for the treatment of urinary tract infections. However, it is not how penicillins such as amoxicillin work.
10008089
e
Inhibits dihydrofolate reductase
QuestionChoice
This is the mechanism of action of other antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin and metronidazole. However, it is not how amoxicillin works.
10008086
b
Inhibits DNA synthesis
QuestionChoice
Amoxicillin acts on penicillin-binding proteins that inhibit a process called transpeptidation (the cross-linking process in cell wall synthesis). This leads to the activation of autolytic enzymes in the bacterial cell wall, therefore preventing its synthesis and bringing about bacterial cell death.
10008085
a
Inhibition of bacterial cell wall synthesis
QuestionChoice
This is the mechanism of action of tetracycline antibiotics. However, it is not how penicillins such as amoxicillin work.
10008087
c
Inhibits bacterial ribosomal subunit 30S
QuestionChoice
This is the mechanism of action of antibiotics such as erythromycin, azithromycin and clarithromycin. However, it is not how penicillins such as amoxicillin work.
10008088
d
Inhibits bacterial ribosomal subunit 50S
Concept
Chapter
2693
4643
Penicillins
Topic
223
Antibiotic pharmacology
14164
A 81-year-old woman attends her GP surgery with a two-week history of breathlessness, fever and a productive cough. On examination, there are coarse crackles heard at the base of the right lung. After having a chest x-ray, she is diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia and is commenced on amoxicillin.

Which of the following describes the mechanism of action of amoxicillin?
a