What is Dihydropteroate synthase inhibitor?

Dihydropteroate synthase inhibitors are drugs that inhibit the action of dihydropteroate synthase. They include sulfonamides, dapsone, and para-aminosalicylic acid.

In bacteria, antibacterial sulfonamides act as competitive inhibitors of the enzyme dihydropteroate synthase, DHPS. DHPS catalyses the conversion of PABA to dihydropteroate, a key step in folate synthesis. Folate is necessary for the cell to synthesize nucleic acids , and in its absence cells will be unable to divide. Hence the sulfonamide antibacterials exhibit a bacteriostatic rather than bactericidal effect.