Tazobactam is a

pharmaceutical drug A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...

that inhibits the action of bacterial β-lactamases, especially those belonging to the SHV-1 and TEM groups. It is commonly used as its sodium

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...

, tazobactam sodium. In simple terms, it is an ingredient that can be added to certain antibiotics to make them less vulnerable to bacteria's

antimicrobial resistance Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from the effects of antimicrobials. All classes of microbes can evolve resistance. Fungi evolve antifungal resistance. Viruses evolve antiviral resistance ...

. Tazobactam is combined with the extended spectrum β-lactam

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy, ...

piperacillin in the drug

piperacillin/tazobactam Piperacillin/tazobactam, sold under the brand name Zosyn among others, is a combination medication containing the antibiotic piperacillin and the β-lactamase inhibitor tazobactam. The combination has activity against many Gram-positive and ...

, used in infections due to ''

Pseudomonas aeruginosa ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'' is a common encapsulated, gram-negative, aerobic– facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium that can cause disease in plants and animals, including humans. A species of considerable medical importance, ''P. aer ...

''. Tazobactam broadens the spectrum of piperacillin by making it effective against organisms that express β-lactamase and would normally degrade piperacillin. Tazobactam is a heavily modified

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...

and a sulfone. Tazobactam was patented in 1982 and came into medical use in 1992.

References

Antibiotics Beta-lactam antibiotics Beta-lactamase inhibitors Sulfones Triazoles {{antibiotic-stub

See also

References