chemotherapeutic agents - what are those? (Sep/17/2009 )
Hallo all,
I was under the impression that a chemotherapeutic agent is the same as a "drug", so in general a substance to get better.
Now I am having a problem with what some authors mean with this word, because I was under the impression that an antibiotic was also considered as a chemotherapeutic.
However I have recently been reading a lot of sentences like this:
However, extensive use of antibiotics and other chemotherapeutic agents has resulted in an increase in drug-resistant bacteria in aquatic environments. More and more antimicrobial compounds (amikacin, ampicillin, kanamycin, penicillin G, streptomycin and tetracycline etc. ), which have been among the most commonly used drugs in clinical and agricultural treatments, are now partially or completely ineffective in controlling vibriosis, as well as other bacterial diseases of fish.
In Aeromonas spp., multiple resistance towards antibiotics has been recognized to be associated with plasmids, especially transferable ones (e.g. R-factor). We have observed the existence of transferable plasmids encoding multiple antibiotic resistance by experimental conjugation of resistant vibrio strains with recipients.
However, the transfer frequencies were very low, ranging from 10 -11 to 10 .9 , suggesting that drug-resistance is mainly chromosomal.
In practice, a considerable amount of antibiotics, administered in the feed, are unabsorbed by the fish and enter into the environment in antimicrobially active forms.
In addition, spatial and temporal differences always result in significant discrepancies in antimicrobial susceptibilities of vibrios. Therefore, in order to reduce the indiscriminate use of these antibiotics, drug susceptibility tests should be carried out prior to the use of any antibiotics in fish farms. Although chemotherapy is currently the most commonly used method in controlling and treating bacterial diseases in fish farms, limitations such as posing extra economical problem to fish farmers and influencing surrounding ecosystem do exist.
Therefore, development of methods other than chemotherapy is desired.
Prophylactic treatment of vibriosis by vaccination is highly recommended, and recent reports have shown that this area is highly promising
In Aeromonas spp., multiple resistance towards antibiotics has been recognized to be associated with plasmids, especially transferable ones (e.g. R-factor). We have observed the existence of transferable plasmids encoding multiple antibiotic resistance by experimental conjugation of resistant vibrio strains with recipients.
However, the transfer frequencies were very low, ranging from 10 -11 to 10 .9 , suggesting that drug-resistance is mainly chromosomal.
In practice, a considerable amount of antibiotics, administered in the feed, are unabsorbed by the fish and enter into the environment in antimicrobially active forms.
In addition, spatial and temporal differences always result in significant discrepancies in antimicrobial susceptibilities of vibrios. Therefore, in order to reduce the indiscriminate use of these antibiotics, drug susceptibility tests should be carried out prior to the use of any antibiotics in fish farms. Although chemotherapy is currently the most commonly used method in controlling and treating bacterial diseases in fish farms, limitations such as posing extra economical problem to fish farmers and influencing surrounding ecosystem do exist.
Therefore, development of methods other than chemotherapy is desired.
Prophylactic treatment of vibriosis by vaccination is highly recommended, and recent reports have shown that this area is highly promising
The problem with sentences like this is simple: they always speak of chemotherapeuticals AND antibiotics... but when I read further down the text I never find any chemotherapeutic that is NOT an anitbiotic
Anyone an idea ?
Is it just a misuse of the word or ?
-josse-
Think they use the term in the broad sense - to include antibiotics and synthetic antimicrobials such as triclosan and quats.
-GeorgeWolff-
I see.
I can understand that.
However I find it strange that whenever they give examples of substances that they use, they always give anibiotics and never substances like synthetic antimicrobials like triclosan and quats.
-josse-