What other properties should an antibiotic have?

What other properties should an antibiotic have?

Selective toxicity is the most important single attribute of an antibiotic, but ideally it should also have as many of the following properties as possible:

·              antibiotics, like other chemotherapeutic agents, need to be soluble in body fluids, in order to exert their effect by penetrating the body tissues. The compound must not be metabolised so quickly that it is excreted from the body before having a chance to act.

· if administered orally, it must not be inactivated by the acid environment of the stomach, and must be capable of being absorbed by the small intestine.

·              an antibiotic should not have any significant effecton the resident microflora of the host.

·              it should not be easy for the target pathogen to estab-lish resistance against an antibiotic.

·              side-effectssuch as allergic reactions should beminimal.

·              it should be sufficiently stable to have a good shelflife, without special storage considerations.