Permeation of beta-lactam antibiotics into Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and other gram-negative bacteria - PubMed (original) (raw)

Review

. 1988 Jul-Aug;10(4):691-8.

doi: 10.1093/clinids/10.4.691.

Affiliations

Review

Permeation of beta-lactam antibiotics into Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and other gram-negative bacteria

D M Livermore. Rev Infect Dis. 1988 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

Cell wall impermeability is a major determinant of the susceptibility of gram-negative bacilli to beta-lactam antibiotics. The outer membrane, which beta-lactam agents cross via pores composed of porin proteins, is the major individual barrier in the wall structure but does not of itself exclude these antibiotics. Rather, it slows their influx to a level that the periplasmic clearance mechanisms may manage to contain. The clearance mechanisms include hydrolysis and perhaps covalent binding by beta-lactamases and nonessential penicillin-binding proteins. The balance between uptake and clearance determines the fate of the cell, rather than one or the other factor alone. It is possible to represent this interplay mathematically for Escherichia coli, but Pseudomonas aeruginosa presents a more ambivalent picture. Moreover, the relations among porin quantity, permeability, and resistance are much better established for E. coli than for P. aeruginosa, and the possible existence of additional barrier layers--besides the outer membrane--in the latter species cannot be excluded.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources