Beta-lactams as clinically active medicines

Abstract

The clinical use of diverse β-lactams as antibiotics is continued to grow as the main weapon against bacterial diseases. Since the discovery of penicillins, other β-lactam antibiotics are discovered and they save millions of life. Importantly, β-lactams are also used as medicines for different types of medical disorders. Some of them are found to be anticancer agents, anticholesterol agents. Because of the tremendous medicinal properties, many studies are directed to identify their mechanism of action against these diseases. Despite the significant importance of clinically active β-lactams no description covering their use and resistance in recent years is performed. Therefore, we report here the medical use of β-lactams as therapeutic agents with the understanding that researchers may find this chapter useful in their endeavor in future research.