Quinolone

The quinolones are a family of synthetic broad-spectrum antibiotic drugs. Quinolones, and derivatives, have also been isolated from natural sources (such as plants, animals and bacteria) and can act as natural antimicrobials and/or signalling molecules.

Quinolones exert their antibacterial effect by preventing bacterial DNA from unwinding and duplicating. The majority of quinolones in clinical use are fluoroquinolones, which have a fluorine atom attached to the central ring system, typically at the 6-position or C-7 position. Most of them are named with the -oxacin suffix.

Medical uses

Fluoroquinolones are broad-spectrum antibiotics (effective for both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria) that play an important role in treatment of serious bacterial infections, especially hospital-acquired infections and others in which resistance to older antibacterial classes is suspected. Because the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics encourages the spread of multidrug-resistant strains and the development of Clostridium difficile infections, treatment guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Thoracic Society, and other professional organizations recommend minimizing the use of fluoroquinolones and other broad-spectrum antibiotics in less severe infections and in those in which risk factors for multidrug resistance are not present.