Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 17, 2026

Functional Evaluation of Biological Neurotoxins in Networked Cultures of Stem Cell-derived Central Nervous System Neurons
15:05

Functional Evaluation of Biological Neurotoxins in Networked Cultures of Stem Cell-derived Central Nervous System Neurons

Published on: February 5, 2015

[Neurotoxic effects of antimicrobial agents]

S Parillo1, N Troillet, D Genoud

  • 1Départment de médecine interne, Centre hospitalier du Valais romand, Hôpital du Valais, Martigny. silvestro.parillo@hopitalvs.ch

Revue Medicale Suisse
|November 8, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Antimicrobial drugs can cause neurological side effects, making diagnosis challenging. Discontinuing the drug and providing supportive care is key when antimicrobial-induced neurotoxicity is suspected.

Area of Science:

  • Neurology
  • Pharmacology
  • Infectious Diseases

Background:

  • Antimicrobial agents are essential for treating infections but can present significant neurological toxicity.
  • The exact incidence of antimicrobial-induced neurotoxicity is challenging to ascertain due to confounding factors.

Observation:

  • Neurological side effects are a crucial consideration in the differential diagnosis of new or worsening neurological conditions during antimicrobial therapy.
  • Except for known effects like aminoglycoside ototoxicity, antimicrobial neurotoxicity is often a diagnosis of exclusion requiring extensive workup.

Findings:

  • This article details the diverse neurological presentations associated with antimicrobial use.
  • Summary tables categorize neurotoxic effects by antimicrobial class for easier reference.

Implications:

  • Clinicians must consider antimicrobial neurotoxicity in patients presenting with neurological symptoms during treatment.
  • Prompt recognition and management, including drug discontinuation and supportive care, are vital for patient outcomes.

More Related Videos

Real-Time Impedance-based Cell Analyzer as a Tool to Delineate Molecular Pathways Involved in Neurotoxicity and Neuroprotection in a Neuronal Cell Line08:23

Real-Time Impedance-based Cell Analyzer as a Tool to Delineate Molecular Pathways Involved in Neurotoxicity and Neuroprotection in a Neuronal Cell Line

Published on: August 9, 2014

Related Concept Videos

Local Anesthetics: Adverse Effects01:12

Local Anesthetics: Adverse Effects

While local anesthetics are generally safe and well-tolerated, they can occasionally cause adverse effects that vary in severity. Local anesthetics can induce toxicity at two distinct levels. They can either produce local effects through direct contact with the neural elements or be absorbed into the bloodstream from the injection site, leading to systemic effects.
Once absorbed into the systemic circulation, local anesthetics can affect the organs that depend on the functioning of sodium...
Antimicrobial Effectiveness01:28

Antimicrobial Effectiveness

The effectiveness of antimicrobial agents depends on various factors influencing their ability to eliminate microbial populations. Larger microbial populations require more time for complete eradication, emphasizing the importance of population size analysis when evaluating antimicrobial efficacy.Microbial resistance to antimicrobial agents varies significantly. Highly resilient microorganisms include endospores, gram-negative bacteria, and non-enveloped viruses, while prions are exceptionally...
Drug Toxicity: Dose-Dependent Reactions01:24

Drug Toxicity: Dose-Dependent Reactions

Drug toxicities can be stratified into pharmacological, pathological, or genotoxic based on their mechanisms. The incidence and severity of these toxicities generally increase with the drug's concentration in the body and exposure time.Pharmacological toxicity is evident when the therapeutic effects of drugs overshoot into adverse reactions in a predictable, dose-dependent manner. Central nervous system (CNS) depression from barbiturates is a classic example, with effects escalating from...
Inhibitors of Bacterial Protein Synthesis01:25

Inhibitors of Bacterial Protein Synthesis

Aminoglycosides constitute a highly potent class of bactericidal antibiotics that exert their antimicrobial effects by targeting the bacterial ribosome, specifically disrupting protein synthesis. These polycationic molecules consist of amino-modified sugars linked via glycosidic bonds to an aminocyclitol core such as 2-deoxystreptamine or streptamine. Their strong positive charges facilitate tight binding to the negatively charged phosphate backbone of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), primarily at the 16S...
Inhibitors of Bacterial DNA Synthesis01:28

Inhibitors of Bacterial DNA Synthesis

Bacterial pathogens depend on precise and efficient DNA replication to sustain infection. Two type II topoisomerases—DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV—are critical to this process, as they resolve DNA supercoiling and unlink chromosomes during replication. Fluoroquinolones, synthetic derivatives of quinolones, exploit this mechanism by stabilizing the transient DNA–enzyme cleavage complex, preventing strand religation, and causing lethal double-strand breaks. These antibiotics are selectively...
Toxic Reactions: Overview01:26

Toxic Reactions: Overview

When toxic substances penetrate the human body, they disseminate to various tissues, undergoing metabolic changes. This process yields reactive metabolites that may covalently bind with specific target molecules, resulting in toxicity.
Toxicity falls into two primary categories: local and systemic.
Local toxicity appears at the exposure site, such as protein denaturation caused by caustic substances.
In contrast, systemic toxicity requires the toxic agent's absorption and distribution,...