Fluoroquinolone

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A class of synthetic antibiotics that are effective against a variety of bacterial infections by inhibiting bacterial DNA replication
2. Antimicrobial agents that belong to a specific group of quinolone antibiotics, targeting both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria
3. Pharmaceuticals used to treat infections by disrupting the process of DNA unwinding in bacteria, thus preventing their reproduction

Etymology: Fluoroquinolone is built from three parts, and two of them are named after their sources. "Quinine," the bitter bark remedy for fever, gave its name to quinoline, a ring-shaped chemical compound. Quinine itself comes from the Quechua "kina-kina" for cinchona bark, which reached European languages through Spanish as "quina." The ending "-one" marks a ketone group, giving quinolone. The "fluoro-" prefix comes from fluorine, named after fluorspar, a mineral that was used as a flux to help metals flow during smelting. Its name derives from Latin "fluere," meaning to flow. In this compound, the prefix indicates a fluorine atom attached to the quinolone ring. The drug class itself arose by accident. The first quinolone antibiotic, nalidixic acid, was discovered as a byproduct while researchers were working on the antimalarial chloroquine. Later chemists added fluorine to the quinolone structure, producing the more potent antibiotics that gave the class its present name.