Monobactam

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Monocyclic β-lactam antibiotics

title: "Monobactam" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["monobactam-antibiotics"] description: "Monocyclic β-lactam antibiotics" topic_path: "general/monobactam-antibiotics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monobactam" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Monocyclic β-lactam antibiotics ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox drug class"]

Field	Value
Name	Aztreonam
Image	Aztreonam structure.svg
ImageClass	skin-invert-image
Caption	Aztreonam. (The four-membered ring at the bottom is the β-lactam. There is a second thiazole ring, but it is not fused to the β-lactam ring.)
Use	Bacterial infection
ATC_prefix	J01DF
MeshID	D008997
::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Tigemonam.svg" caption="[[Tigemonam"] ::

Monobactams are bacterially-produced monocyclic β-lactam antibiotics. The β-lactam ring is not fused to another ring, in contrast to most other β-lactams.

Monobactams are narrow-spectrum antibiotics effective only against (strictly or facultatively) aerobic Gram-negative bacilli, exhibiting a high level of resistance to beta-lactamases of these organisms. Due to their narrow spectrum, monobactams can be used to treat infections by susceptible bacteria without disrupting the patient's microbiota. Monobactams are nevertheless seldom used.

Aztreonam is the archetypal monobactam. Other monobactams include tigemonam, nocardicin A, carumonam and tabtoxin. An example of a monobactam that lacks antibiotic activity, but is used clinically for other purposes, is the cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimibe which is used to treat hypercholesterolemia.

Pharmacology

Monobactams exert their antibacterial effects by binding to penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), thereby inhibiting bacterial wall synthesis. Monobactams exhibit poor affinity for PBPs of Gram-positive bacteria as well as of strictly anaerobic bacteria, resulting in a lack of significant antimicrobial activity against these kinds of organisms. Monobactams are synergetic with aminoglycosides, and piperacillin.

Bacterial resistance to monobactams have been observed, and is mediated by bacterial beta-lactamases.

Adverse effects

Adverse effects to monobactams can include skin rash and occasional abnormal liver functions.

Monobactam antibiotics exhibit no IgE cross-reactivity reactions with penicillin but have shown some cross reactivity with cephalosporins, most notably ceftazidime, which contains an identical side chain as aztreonam. Monobactams can trigger seizures in patients with history of seizures, although the risk is lower than with penicillins.

Research

Siderophore-conjugated monobactams show promise for the treatment of multi drug-resistant pathogens.

References

(2000). "Monobactams". Wiley-VCH.
Murray, Patrick R.. (2021). "Medical microbiology". Elsevier.
"Sherris Medical Microbiology - 7th Edition".
Ritter, James. (2020). "Rang & Dale's Pharmacology". Elsevier.
"Dictionnaire médical de l'Académie de Médecine".
"Monobactams - Infectious Diseases".
(March 1988). "In vitro antimicrobial activity of tigemonam, a new orally administered monobactam". Antimicrob. Agents Chemother..
"Ezetimibe Monograph for Professionals". American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
(February 2012). "Applied therapeutics : the clinical use of drugs.".
(2019). "Essential Metals in Medicine:Therapeutic Use and Toxicity of Metal Ions in the Clinic". de Gruyter GmbH.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::