Els ß-lactàmics Authors Elisenda Miró Raúl-Jesús Mesa Alba Rivera Abstract β-lactam antibiotics are among the most commonly used antimicrobial agents. These agents have very favourable pharmacokinetic properties. Their action is relatively independent of plasma concentration, little toxicity and a broad therapeutic margin. They include penicillins, cephalosporins, monobactams, and carbapenems. All of them have a β-lactam ring, which is essential for antibacterial activity. β-lactam antibiotics are bactericidal because they act on PBPs, which are involved in bacterial cell-wall synthesis. Their spectrum of activity included Grampositive and Gram-negative bacteria, but not mycoplasmae, rickettsiae and mycobacteria. The mechanism of resistance to β-lactams involved mutations in PBPs resulting in reduced affinity for β-lactam antibiotics, reduced uptake due to changes in the cell wall, active efflux, and β-lactamase production. Resistance to β-lactam antibiotics has been a problem for as long as these drugs have been used in clinical practice. Their spectrum has increased over the years with the incorporation of new molecules having greater activity against gram-negative bacilli. Nevertheless, the progressive emergence of acquired resistance has limited the empirical use of β-lactams and their efficacy in certain situations. Downloads Text complet (Català) Published 2006-02-01 Issue 55 : Antimicrobians / Joaquim Ruiz editor Section Principals grups d'agents antibacterians License The intellectual property of the articles belongs to the respective authors. At the time of submitting the articles to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, authors accept the following terms: — Authors assign to the SCB (a subsidiary of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans) the rights of reproduction, public communication (including communication through social networks) and distribution of the articles submitted for publication to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, in any form and medium, including digital platforms. The Publications Committee reserves the right to accept or refuse submitted articles and the right to make any editorial changes it deems appropriate. If the suggested changes are accepted by authors, they should re-submit the article with such changes. — Authors answer to the SCB for the authorship and originality of submitted articles. In other words, authors assure that submitted articles do not contain fragments of works by other authors or fragments of their own previously published works; that the content of articles is original, and that the copyright of third parties is not infringed upon. Authors accept this responsibility and undertake to hold harmless the SCB for any loss or damage resulting from non-compliance with this obligation. Furthermore, they should include a statement in articles submitted to the journal regarding their responsibility for the content of the articles. — Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for the reproduction of all graphic material included in articles, and they should moreover ensure that images, videos, etc., have been created with the consent of the individuals appearing in them, and that material belonging to third parties is clearly identified and acknowledged as such within the text. Likewise, authors should provide the respective consents and authorisations to the SCB when submitting articles. — The SCB is exempt from any liability arising from the possible infringement of intellectual property rights by authors. In all cases, it undertakes to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies, if necessary. — Unless otherwise stated in the text or in the graphic material, the contents published in the journal are subject to an Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 3.0 Spain (by-nc-nd) license from Creative Commons, the full text of which may be consulted at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/deed.en. Therefore, the general public is authorised to reproduce, distribute and communicate articles as long as their authorship and publishing entity are acknowledged, and no commercial use is made of them nor derivative work produced from them. — The journal is not responsible for the ideas and opinions expressed by the authors of published articles.
