Question

How penicillin is effective for us ?

Answer 1

Penicillin is a group of antibiotics which include penicillin G, penicillin V, procaine penicillin, and benzathine penicillin. Penicillin antibiotics were among the first medications to be effective against many bacterial infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci.

Drugs in the penicillin class work by indirectly bursting bacterial cell walls. They do this by acting directly on peptidoglycans, which play an essential structural role in bacterial cells. Peptidoglycans create a mesh-like structure around the plasma membrane of bacterial cells, which increases the strength of the cell walls and prevents external fluids and particles from entering the cell. When a bacterium multiplies, small holes open up in its cell walls as the cells divide. Newly-produced peptidoglycans then fill these holes to reconstruct the walls. Penicillins block the protein struts that link the peptidoglycans together. This prevents the bacterium from closing the holes in its cell walls. As the water concentration of the surrounding fluid is higher than that inside the bacterium, water rushes through the holes into the cell and the bacterium bursts.