| 释义 |
penicillin Pharm.|pɛnɪˈsɪlɪn|
[f. penicillium + -in1.]
1. Orig., the antibiotic agent obtained from cultures of the mould Penicillium notatum; hence, any of a group of antibiotics that are all derivatives of 6-amino-penicillanic acid in which a radical replaces one of the amino hydrogen atoms, some being acids produced naturally by the growth of various moulds of the genera Penicillium and Aspergillus, whilst others are acids, salts, or esters prepared synthetically from these; they are active against many kinds of bacteria but virtually harmless to persons not allergic to them.
1929A. Fleming in Brit. Jrnl. Exper. Path. X. 227 In the rest of this article allusion will constantly be made to experiments with filtrates of a broth culture of this mould, so for convenience and to avoid the repetition of the rather cumbersome phrase ‘Mould broth filtrate’, the name ‘penicillin’ will be used. This will denote the filtrate of a broth culture of the particular penicillium with which we are concerned. 1941H. W. Florey et al. in Lancet 16 Apr. 188/2 Enough evidence has now been assembled to show that penicillin is a new and effective type of chemotherapeutic agent, and possesses some properties unknown in any antibacterial substance hitherto described. 1947Sci. News IV. 69 There are a number of naturally occurring penicillins, with somewhat different medical effectiveness. 1951A. Grollman Pharmacol. & Therapeutics xxii. 445 The amorphous preparations of penicillin are yellow powders with a characteristic odor and bitter taste. The crystalline pure preparations are white, odorless and practically tasteless. 1953J. Ramsbottom Mushrooms & Toadstools xxiii. 287 Soon after the chemical study was begun it was unexpectedly found that there was more than one kind of penicillin. The first two to be recognised were called Penicillin I and Penicillin II in this country, Penicillin F and Penicillin G in America... Later Penicillin III (X) and Penicillin IV (K) were recognised as being produced in greater or lesser amounts depending on cultural conditions. Ibid., There are now five known ‘natural’ penicillins. All are dipeptides with the formula C9H11O4N2S R—the difference between them being in the constitution of the side chain..represented by R. 1958Listener 9 Oct. 552/1 For our modern accomplishments are genuine, from the early work we achieved in the realm of atomic science, to the discovery of penicillin and modern progress on jet-propelled aircraft. 1970Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. II. xx. 12/2 A method has been devised to use these natural penicillins as a source of a new range of compounds which can be made by chemical synthesis.., the new or semi-synthetic penicillins. Ibid. 13/1 These semi-synthetic penicillins have a range of novel properties which make them a major addition to the armoury of antibacterial agents. 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 93 Just two jabs of penicillin up the bum and much humiliation at the local clinic. 1974M. C. Gerald Pharmacol. xxvii. 465 The penicillins were the first antibiotics discovered and remain today the second most widely used class of drugs for the treatment of bacterial infections. Ibid., The most important natural penicillin is benzylpenicillin, which is more commonly designated penicillin G. Although penicillin G is the most potent of all penicillin derivatives, it suffers from several major disadvantages.
2. penicillin A or penicillin B: disused names for notatin (penatin), which is chemically unrelated to the penicillins proper.
1941C. E. Coulthard et al. Brit. Pat. 552,619 A substance having bacteriostatic activity, which is hereinafter termed ‘Penicillin A’,..is produced by selecting a strain of Penicillium notatum which possesses the property..when grown on a suitable culture medium,..of maintaining the pH of the culture medium on the acid side for a considerable period. 1942[see notatin]. 1943E. C. Roberts et al. in Jrnl. Biol. Chem. CXLVII. 47 We wish to report an antibacterial substance, penicillin B, produced by Penicillium notatum, which is insoluble in lipid solvents but readily separated from the culture medium by adsorption on benzoic acid. Ibid., We shall refer to our product as penicillin B to differentiate it from the product obtained by Abraham et al...which we shall call penicillin A. Although penicillin B may be similar to ‘penatin’.., the absence of a discussion of its chemical properties prevents a comparison of the two products. 1949,1963[see notatin].
3. attrib. and Comb., as penicillin-insensitive, penicillin-like, penicillin-resistant, penicillin-sensitive adjs.; penicillin unit, a unit of penicillin which since 1944 has been the amount having the same antibiotic activity as a certain quantity (very nearly, and orig. exactly, 0.6 microgramme) of a standard preparation of the sodium salt of benzylpenicillin (penicillin G), and which is approximately equivalent to the Oxford unit that it superseded.
1929Brit. Jrnl. Exper. Path. X. 234 In some [cultures] there were a few diphtheroid bacilli which were always penicillin sensitive, and in others there were Gram⁓negative bacilli which were penicillin insensitive. 1953J. Ramsbottom Mushrooms & Toadstools xxiii. 284 Penicillium notatum grows best in nearly neutral media, which are equally favourable for penicillin-insensitive organisms..which produce the enzyme penicillinase.
1946Nature 28 Sept. 446/1 Penicillin-like antibiotics are produced by a number of moulds besides Penicillium notatum.
1942Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol. & Med. LI. 387 (heading) Development of penicillin resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus in vitro. 1971Nature 4 June 284/1 Penicillin-resistant strains of staphylococci emerged in the 1950s.
1929Penicillin-sensitive [see penicillin-insensitive above]. 1959Times 6 Mar. 13/7 The proportion of penicillin-sensitive individuals is small.
1943Jrnl. Bacteriol. XLVI. 189 To eliminate the day-to-day deviation, the Oxford group introduced the concept of the penicillin unit and the use of a standard penicillin preparation. 1947Jrnl. Biol. Chem. CLXVII. 554 In the Casamino acid medium, maximum yields were obtained upon addition of 200 penicillin units per ml. of medium initially. 1953Heilbron & Bunbury Dict. Org. Compounds (rev. ed.) IV. 51/2 Penicillin-F... Antibiotic activity: 1,490 Penicillin units per mg. |