title: beta-lactamase insensitive or inhibitory beta-lactams: two approaches to the challenge of ampicillin-resistant E. coli.
abstract: The rising incidence of Gram-negative bacteria resistant to ampicillin in hospitals has brought about a need to develop novel beta-lactam antibiotics. This challenge is being met in two ways. First, attempts have been made to develop compounds insensitive to beta-lactamase hydrolysis. This has proved difficult in the penicillin series, but cefuroxime and cefoxitin are cephalosporin derivatives with the necessary properties. The second approach has been to discover novel beta-lactam nuclei capable of inhibiting beta-lactamases. So far this had led to the production of the clavulins and the olivacins, the latter class of molecules being closely related chemically to thienamycin.
mesh_terms: D000581:Amidohydrolases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D000667:Ampicillin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002440:Cefoxitin / Q000494:pharmacology; D002510:Cephalosporinase / Q000378:metabolism; D002511:Cephalosporins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology*; D005663:Furans / Q000494:pharmacology; D006868:Hydrolysis; D010403:Penicillin Resistance; D010405:Penicillinase / Q000378:metabolism; D065093:beta-Lactamase Inhibitors; D047090:beta-Lactams / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002511:Cephalosporins; D005663:Furans; D065093:beta-Lactamase Inhibitors; D047090:beta-Lactams; D002440:Cefoxitin; D000667:Ampicillin; D000581:Amidohydrolases; D002510:Cephalosporinase; D010405:Penicillinase