Description
The appearance on the market of clavulanic acid protected amoxicillin produced by large international enterprises involved in the production of antibacterial drugs, has contributed to the core changes antibiotic treatment. Antibiotics are one of the major classes of drugs, and imagining the modern medicine without them is hardly possible. Thus, despite the fact that the nomenclature of the class of drugs includes an extremely wide range of medications, humanity will always need new antibacterial drugs. The reason for this is the ability of microorganisms to develop resistance to antibiotics.
Pharmacological action
One of the most specific protection mechanisms in microorganisms is to inactivate enzymes, antimicrobial agents – β-lactamases, which are capable of destroying the penicillins and cephalosporins. This protection mechanism is used in by Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella, E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and gram-negative bacilli. These are the main causative agents of infectious and inflammatory diseases of various organs and systems.
In order to overcome the resistance, the researchers in the course of a long study of the compound have obtained the method capable of inactivating β-lactamases enzymes, which received its name due to its ability to destroy the β-lactamases ring of this class of drugs. One of these inhibitors, clavulanic acid, was synthesized in the early 1970’s. This compound has a β-lactam structure, like that of penicillins, which allows it to bind to penicillin binding proteins of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and promote the lysis of the bacterial wall. Clavulanic acid is active on, from a clinical point of view, plasmid β-lactamases, which are often responsible for the occurrence of cross-resistance to antibiotics. Furthermore, this property allows it clavulanate also exhibit antibacterial activity of its own.
Through the combination of clavulanic acid with the antibiotic amoxicillin it received a brand new drug that has a set of special effects. Irreversibly inhibiting β-lactamase, amoxicillin clavulanic acid opens the way for the attack, allowing him to show the entire set of its properties: a wide spectrum of antibacterial activity; even higher bioavailability when administered orally (not degraded by gastric acid, the use of food has no effect on the absorbability of the drug); and, as a consequence, the ability to create in the tissues and body fluids higher concentration of active substances to effectively combat microorganisms.
Indications for use
A wide scope of action drug, Amoxil (Amoxicillin) is used in the treatment of the following diseases:
- upper and lower respiratory tract infections (such as sinusitis, otitis, pneumonia, etc.),
- genitourinary system disease and infections (e.g. cystitis, sexually transmitted and gynecological diseases, etc.);
- lesions of the skin and soft tissues, bones and joints diseases;
The drug is also used as perioperative prophylaxis of surgical infection, plus it can be applied in complex treatment not indicated in the liner.
At the same time, along with a broad spectrum of action and high efficiency, which (as shown by the long experience of the complex of amoxicillin + clavulanic acid) is stored for a long time, Amoxil has also a favorable safety profile and is well tolerated. The latter allows to use Amoxil children, patients with concomitant diseases; elderly patients, and those suffering from age-related disorders of the liver and kidneys.