Azithromycin primarily exerts its antibacterial effect by inhibiting:
Solution
Correct Answer: Option A
- Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic that binds irreversibly to the 50S subunit of bacterial ribosomes, inhibiting the translocation steps of protein synthesis.
- This action prevents bacterial growth by blocking peptide chain elongation.
- It does not affect cell wall synthesis, DNA gyrase, or folic acid metabolism, which are targets of other antibiotic classes.
- Hence, its primary antibacterial effect is through inhibition of protein synthesis at the 50S ribosomal subunit.
Reference: Goodman & Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 13th Edition, Chapter 35