Antimicrobial and Chemotherapeutic Agents Flashcards
7 cards from real Pharmacology practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Antimicrobial and Chemotherapeutic Agents flashcards as text
Which aminoglycoside antibiotic is most commonly associated with nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity?
Answer: Gentamicin
Gentamicin and other aminoglycosides accumulate in renal proximal tubule cells and cochlear hair cells, causing nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity.
A patient with a penicillin allergy requires treatment for MRSA bacteremia. Which antibiotic is the drug of choice?
Answer: Vancomycin
Vancomycin is the first-line agent for MRSA infections and is a safe alternative for penicillin-allergic patients since it belongs to a different drug class.
Which mechanism best explains how fluoroquinolones kill bacteria?
Answer: Inhibition of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV
Fluoroquinolones inhibit DNA gyrase (topoisomerase II) in gram-negative bacteria and topoisomerase IV in gram-positive bacteria, preventing DNA replication and repair.
A nurse is administering IV vancomycin too rapidly. The patient develops flushing, erythema, and hypotension of the face, neck, and torso. This reaction is best described as:
Answer: Red Man Syndrome
Red Man Syndrome is a rate-related infusion reaction caused by non-immune mast cell degranulation and histamine release when vancomycin is infused too rapidly.
Which antifungal drug works by inhibiting ergosterol synthesis through blockade of lanosterol 14-alpha-demethylase?
Answer: Fluconazole
Azole antifungals like fluconazole inhibit CYP450-dependent lanosterol 14-alpha-demethylase, blocking ergosterol synthesis and disrupting fungal membrane integrity.
Metronidazole is the drug of choice for which of the following infections?
Answer: Clostridioides difficile colitis
Metronidazole is first-line therapy for mild-to-moderate C. difficile infection and acts by forming toxic free radicals that damage anaerobic bacterial DNA.
Which beta-lactam antibiotic has the broadest spectrum of activity and is most resistant to beta-lactamases?
Answer: Imipenem
Imipenem (a carbapenem) has the broadest spectrum among beta-lactams, covering gram-positive, gram-negative, and anaerobic organisms, and resists most beta-lactamases.