1. Treatment of infectious diseases

2. Drugs used in the treatment of bacterial diseases can be grouped into categories based on their modes of action: 1. Penicillins/cephalosporins interfere with certain layers of cell wall 2. Chloramphenicol, tetracyclines, erythromycins-may be toxic when used in high doses or prolonged periods of time *** 3. Rifampin-used for treatment of TB ***

3.  Drugs that effectively inhibit viral infections are highly toxic to host cells because viruses use the host’s metabolic enzymes in reproduction 1. Antiviral drugs target virus-specific enzymes 2. Acyclovir-used in treatment of genital herpes*** 3. Amantadine-used to prevent or moderate influenza *** 4. AZT-inhibit replication of HIV genome

4. Development of drugs used to treat fungal, protozoan, and helminthic diseases are also highly toxic to mammals 1. Azole derivatives inhibit sterol synthesis 2. Amphotericin B-disrupts cell membrane

5. Antimicrobial resistance presents ongoing problems in the fight against infectious diseases 1. Penicillin resistance noted as early as 1943*** 2. Mycobacterium tuberculosis-some strains resistant to all drugs 3. Resistance to antibiotics-result of changes in genetic information