Title: Sulfonamide (drug) - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Headings: Sulfonamide (drug)
Sulfonamide (drug)
Contents
How they work
History
How they are made
References

Content: Sulfonamide (drug) - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sulfonamide (drug)
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Sulfonamide functional group
Structural similarity between sulfonamide (left) and PABA (center) is the basis for the inhibitory activity of sulfa drugs on dihydrofolate (right) biosynthesis
A Sulfonamide (or sulphonamide) is a kind of drug. It is a man-made antibiotic. Their ability to kill infectious bacteria is their main function, but some types have other medical uses. For example, sulfasalazine, in addition to its use as an antibiotic, is also used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Sulfonamides (sometimes called sulfa drugs or sulpha drugs) contain the sulfonamide chemical group. The best known of the antibiotic sulfonamide drugs is called Sulfanilimide . Contents
1 How they work
2 History
3 How they are made
4 References
How they work
In bacteria, antibacterial sulfonamides inhibit the enzyme DHPS. The enzyme makes folic acid, a B vitamin. The microorganism is "starved" of folate and dies. Humans, unlike bacteria, get folate (vitamin B 9) through their diet.