Content check — Microbiology, Chapter 14: Antimicrobial Drugs

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Chapter 14: Antimicrobial Drugs

32 problems · 0 figures

A scientist discovers that a soil bacterium he has been studying produces an antimicrobial that kills gram-negative bacteria. She isolates and purifies the antimicrobial compound, then chemically converts a chemical side chain to a hydroxyl group. When she tests the antimicrobial properties of this new version, she finds that this antimicrobial drug can now also kill gram-positive bacteria. The new antimicrobial drug with broad-spectrum activity is considered to be which of the following?

a.
resistant
b.
semisynthetic
c.
synthetic
d.
natural

Answer

B. semisynthetic

14-2 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following antimicrobial drugs is synthetic?

a.
sulfanilamide
b.
penicillin
c.
actinomycin
d.
neomycin

Answer

A. sulfanilamide

14-3 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following combinations would most likely contribute to the development of a superinfection?

a.
long-term use of narrow-spectrum antimicrobials
b.
long-term use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials
c.
short-term use of narrow-spectrum antimicrobials
d.
short-term use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials

Answer

B. long-term use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials

14-4 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following routes of administration would be appropriate and convenient for home administration of an antimicrobial to treat a systemic infection?

a.
oral
b.
intravenous
c.
topical
d.
parenteral

Answer

A. oral

14-5 §14.MC source ↗

Which clinical situation would be appropriate for treatment with a narrow-spectrum antimicrobial drug?

a.
treatment of a polymicrobic mixed infection in the intestine
b.
prophylaxis against infection after a surgical procedure
c.
treatment of strep throat caused by culture identified Streptococcus pyogenes
d.
empiric therapy of pneumonia while waiting for culture results

Answer

C. treatment of strep throat caused by culture identified Streptococcus pyogenes

14-6 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following terms refers to the ability of an antimicrobial drug to harm the target microbe without harming the host?

a.
mode of action
b.
therapeutic level
c.
spectrum of activity
d.
selective toxicity

Answer

D. selective toxicity

14-7 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following is not a type of β-lactam antimicrobial?

a.
penicillins
b.
glycopeptides
c.
cephalosporins
d.
monobactams

Answer

B. glycopeptides

14-8 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following does not bind to the 50S ribosomal subunit?

a.
tetracyclines
b.
lincosamides
c.
macrolides
d.
chloramphenicol

Answer

A. tetracyclines

14-9 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following antimicrobials inhibits the activity of DNA gyrase?

a.
polymyxin B
b.
clindamycin
c.
nalidixic acid
d.
rifampin

Answer

C. nalidixic acid

14-10 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following is not an appropriate target for antifungal drugs?

a.
ergosterol
b.
chitin
c.
cholesterol
d.
β(1→3) glucan

Answer

C. cholesterol

14-11 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following drug classes specifically inhibits neuronal transmission in helminths?

a.
quinolines
b.
avermectins
c.
amantadines
d.
imidazoles

Answer

B. avermectins

14-12 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following is a nucleoside analog commonly used as a reverse transcriptase inhibitor in the treatment of HIV?

a.
acyclovir
b.
ribavirin
c.
adenine-arabinoside
d.
azidothymidine

Answer

D. azidothymidine

14-13 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following is an antimalarial drug that is thought to increase ROS levels in target cells?

a.
artemisinin
b.
amphotericin b
c.
praziquantel
d.
pleconaril

Answer

A. artemisinin

14-14 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following resistance mechanisms describes the function of β-lactamase?

a.
efflux pump
b.
target mimicry
c.
drug inactivation
d.
target overproduction

Answer

C. drug inactivation

14-15 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following resistance mechanisms is commonly effective against a wide range of antimicrobials in multiple classes?

a.
efflux pump
b.
target mimicry
c.
target modification
d.
target overproduction

Answer

A. efflux pump

14-16 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following resistance mechanisms is the most nonspecific to a particular class of antimicrobials?

a.
drug modification
b.
target mimicry
c.
target modification
d.
efflux pump

Answer

D. efflux pump

14-17 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following types of drug-resistant bacteria do not typically persist in individuals as a member of their intestinal microbiota?

a.
MRSA
b.
VRE
c.
CRE
d.
ESBL-producing bacteria

Answer

A. MRSA

14-18 §14.MC source ↗

In the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test, the _______ of the zone of inhibition is measured and used for interpretation.

a.
diameter
b.
microbial population
c.
circumference
d.
depth

Answer

A. diameter

14-19 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following techniques cannot be used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of an antimicrobial drug against a particular microbe?

a.
Etest
b.
microbroth dilution test
c.
Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test
d.
macrobroth dilution test

Answer

C. Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test

14-20 §14.MC source ↗

The utility of an antibiogram is that it shows antimicrobial susceptibility trends

a.
over a large geographic area.
b.
for an individual patient.
c.
in research laboratory strains.
d.
in a localized population.

Answer

D. in a localized population.

14-21 §14.MC source ↗

Which of the following has yielded compounds with the most antimicrobial activity?

a.
water
b.
air
c.
volcanoes
d.
soil

Answer

D. soil

14-27 §14.FITB source ↗

The group of soil bacteria known for their ability to produce a wide variety of antimicrobials is called the ________.

Answer

actinomycetes

14-28 §14.FITB source ↗

The bacterium known for causing pseudomembranous colitis, a potentially deadly superinfection, is ________.

Answer

Clostridioides difficile

14-29 §14.FITB source ↗

Selective toxicity antimicrobials are easier to develop against bacteria because they are ________ cells, whereas human cells are eukaryotic.

Answer

prokaryotic

14-30 §14.FITB source ↗

Antiviral drugs, like Tamiflu and Relenza, that are effective against the influenza virus by preventing viral escape from host cells are called ________.

Answer

neuraminidase inhibitors

14-31 §14.FITB source ↗

Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA strains, may commonly be carried as a normal member of the ________ microbiota in some people.

Answer

nasal

14-32 §14.FITB source ↗

The method that can determine the MICs of multiple antimicrobial drugs against a microbial strain using a single agar plate is called the ________.

Answer

Etest

14-22 §14.TF source ↗

Narrow-spectrum antimicrobials are commonly used for prophylaxis following surgery.

Answer

False

14-23 §14.TF source ↗

β-lactamases can degrade vancomycin.

Answer

false

14-24 §14.TF source ↗

Echinocandins, known as “penicillin for fungi,” target β(1→3) glucan in fungal cell walls.

Answer

true

14-25 §14.TF source ↗

If drug A produces a larger zone of inhibition than drug B on the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test, drug A should always be prescribed.

Answer

false

14-26 §14.TF source ↗

The rate of discovery of antimicrobial drugs has decreased significantly in recent decades.

Answer

true

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Problems and answers are adapted from Microbiology by Nina Parker, Mark Schneegurt, Anh-Hue Thi Tu, Philip Lister and Brian M. Forster, OpenStax, and are used under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/microbiology/pages/1-introduction. Illustrations: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. This adaptation is released under the same licence, is non-commercial, and is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by OpenStax or Rice University.