This set of Microbiology Multiple Choice Questions & Answers (MCQs) focuses on “Historical Highlights of Chemotherapy”.
1. Which of the following is not a characteristic of a chemotherapeutic agent?
a) low toxicity for host cells
b) high toxicity for the parasites
c) less penetrating power
d) does not affect the host’s natural defense mechanism
View Answer
Explanation: A chemotherapeutic agent must be able to come in contact with the parasite by penetrating the cells and tissues of the host in effective concentrations.
2. Phenol is considered as a chemotherapeutic agent.
a) True
b) False
View Answer
Explanation: Antiseptics and germicides such as phenol, coal-tar derivatives and many mercurial compounds are unsatisfactory as chemotherapeutic agents as they do not show selective toxicity for the parasite.
3. Which was the first disease for which a chemotherapeutic agent was used?
a) Syphilis
b) Malaria
c) Small pox
d) AIDS
View Answer
Explanation: Syphilis is the first known disease for which a chemotherapeutic agent was used. An arsenical compound known as Salvarsan was synthesized by Paul Ehrlich in 1910 to treat this disease.
4. Sulfanilamide was synthesized by which of the following research scientists?
a) Eisenberg
b) Gelmo
c) Ehrlich
d) Domagk
View Answer
Explanation: Domagk showed the therapeutic value of a group of compounds known as the sulfonamides and Sulfanilamide was the first compound in this group to be synthesized by Gelmo in 1910.
5. Sulfonamides and arsphenamine are similar in their specificity for a special group of organism.
a) True
b) False
View Answer
Explanation: Sulfonamides are not specific for a special group of organisms, as arsphenamine is for Treponema, but are effective against a large variety of pathogenic organisms.
6. Which of the following chemothearpeutic agent is extensively used because of their antibacterial effectiveness in a wide range of bacterial infections?
a) arsphenamine
b) sulfanilamide
c) sulfonamide
d) sulfadiazine
View Answer
Explanation: Sulfadiazine and sulfamerazine are extensively used because of their antibacterial effectiveness in a wide range of bacterial infections and because they are least likely to produce toxic reactions in the patient.
7. The antibiotic penicillin was discovered by which of the following researchers?
a) Emmerich and Low
b) Gratia and Dath
c) Alexander Flemming
d) Vuillemin
View Answer
Explanation: Alexander Flemming identified the famous antibiotic penicillin obtained from the mold Penicillium sp.
8. Which of the following antibiotic is not involved in the inhibition of specific enzyme systems?
a) Penicillin
b) Tetracycline
c) Sulphonamides
d) Chloramphenicol
View Answer
Explanation: The sulphonamides have their antibacterial attack directed towards a specific essential enzyme. Their structure is related to p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) which is a precursor to their synthesis of the essential coenzyme tetrahydrofolic acid (THFA).
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