Title: How Sulfa Drugs Work | National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Headings: How Sulfa Drugs Work
How Sulfa Drugs Work
Content: How Sulfa Drugs Work | National Institutes of Health (NIH)
March 12, 2012
How Sulfa Drugs Work
Bacillus anthracis. CDC/ Dr. William A. Clark
Researchers have finally found out how sulfa drugs—the first class of antibiotics ever discovered—work at the molecular level. The finding offers insights into designing more robust antibiotic therapies. Sulfa antibiotics were first used in the 1930s, and they revolutionized medicine. After a few years, bacteria started to develop resistance to the drugs, and eventually penicillin replaced them as a first-line treatment. While antibiotic resistance remains a problem for this class of antibiotics, sulfa drugs are still commonly used to treat a variety of bacterial infections. Sulfa drugs work by binding and inhibiting a specific enzyme called dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS). This enzyme is critical for the synthesis of folate, an essential nutrient. Mammals get folate from their diet, but bacteria must synthesize this vitamin. Folate synthesis requires a chemical reaction between 2 molecules, DHPP and PABA, that is catalyzed by DHPS.