Biochemistry of Drug Resistance

Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive discussion on the current information and evidence on the latest developments in the field of drugs resistance. Drug resistance is the reduction in effectiveness of a medication such as an antimicrobial or an antineoplastic in treating a disease or condition. This leads to negative outcomes at great risk of public health; therefore, increasing efforts are dedicated to the development of a new generation of medications that will help deal with this phenomenon. Decades of technological innovations in drug design have demonstrated the potential of resistance. Enormous information on various aspects of antibiotics resistance is available. However, literature on drug resistance specifically related to infectious and non-infectious diseases is rarely presented, particularly those focusing on the mechanisms, biochemistry, kinetics, dynamics, and management of drug resistance. Therefore, there is an immense need for a systematic compilation on the available information about this issue. All the chapters are logically selected and arranged to provide state-of-the-art information about all aspects of drugs resistance. After an introductory chapter, four chapters are dedicated to infectious microbial diseases, whereas two other chapters are complimenting this theme and focusing on drugs resistance in ear, nose and throat, and skin diseases. The recent advances in the understanding of drugs resistance in lung, neurological, kidney, heart, and liver diseases are also covered. Biochemistry of drugs resistance in cancer, HIV, ocular, reproductive, and diabetes diseases is also discussed. Finally, a chapter dedicated to the “management of drug resistance” has been included.