Canadian Medical Guide > Chemicals and Drugs > Organic Chemicals > Amides > Lactams Terms and Definitions

Lactams

Medical Definition:	Cyclic amides formed from aminocarboxy acids by the elimination of water. Lactims are the enol forms of lactams.
Guide Notes:	antibiotics
Also Called:	beta-Lactams
Previously Indexed:	Amides (1966-1971)

Lactams Categories.

	Caprolactam - Cyclic amide of caproic acid used in manufacture of synthetic fibers of the polyamide type. Can cause local irritation.
	Carbapenems - A group of beta-lactam antibiotics in which the sulfur atom in the thiazolidine ring of the penicillin molecule is replaced by a carbon atom. THIENAMYCINS are a subgroup of carbapenems which have a sulfur atom as the first constituent of the side chain.
	Cephalosporins - A group of broad-spectrum antibiotics first isolated from the Mediterranean fungus ACREMONIUM. They contain the beta-lactam moiety thia-azabicyclo-octenecarboxylic acid also called 7-aminocephalosporanic acid.
	Clavulanic Acids - Acids, salts, and derivatives of clavulanic acid (C8H9O5N). They consist of those beta-lactam compounds that differ from penicillin in having the sulfur of the thiazolidine ring replaced by an oxygen. They have limited antibacterial action, but block bacterial beta-lactamase irreversibly, so that similar antibiotics are not broken down by the bacterial enzymes and therefore can exert their antibacterial effects.
	Monobactams - Monocyclic, bacterially produced or semisynthetic beta-lactam antibiotics. They lack the double ring construction of the traditional beta-lactam antibiotics and can be easily synthesized.
	Moxalactam - Broad- spectrum beta-lactam antibiotic similar in structure to the CEPHALOSPORINS except for the substitution of an oxaazabicyclo moiety for the thiaazabicyclo moiety of certain CEPHALOSPORINS. It has been proposed especially for the meningitides because it passes the blood-brain barrier and for anaerobic infections.
	Penicillins - A group of antibiotics that contain 6-aminopenicillanic acid with a side chain attached to the 6-amino group. The penicillin nucleus is the chief structural requirement for biological activity. The side-chain structure determines many of the antibacterial and pharmacological characteristics. (Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 8th ed, p1065)

Lactams Medical Definitions and Terms

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