Question:

Sulphonamide injection causes decrease in folic acid by?

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The drug mimics PABA and fights for the same enzyme site.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
  • Competitive inhibition
  • Non competitive inhibition
  • Uncompetitive inhibition
  • Allosteric inhibition
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Bacteria cannot use preformed folic acid from the host and must synthesise it themselves. A key building block in this synthesis is para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA).

Step 2: Sulphonamides are structural analogues of PABA. Because they resemble the natural substrate, they bind to the active site of the bacterial enzyme dihydropteroate synthase (folate synthase).

Step 3: Since the drug and PABA compete for the same active site, this is competitive inhibition. Increasing the amount of PABA can overcome the block, which is the hallmark of a competitive mechanism.

Step 4: Non-competitive, uncompetitive and allosteric inhibition all involve binding at sites other than the substrate site or do not allow reversal by excess substrate, so they do not describe the PABA-analogue mechanism. Hence competitive inhibition is correct.
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