Nitrofurantoin is converted by bacterial nitroreductases to electrophilic intermediates which inhibit the citric acid cycle as well as synthesis of DNA, RNA, and protein. This drug is more resistant to the development of bacterial resistance because it acts on many targets at once. The drug works by damaging bacterial DNA, since its reduced form is highly reactive. This is made possible by the rapid reduction of nitrofurantoin inside the bacterial cell by flavoproteins (nitrofuran reductase) to multiple reactive intermediates that attack ribosomal proteins, DNA,respiration, pyruvate metabolism and other macromolecules within the cell. Nitrofurantoin exerts greater effects on bacterial cells than mammalian cells because bacterial cells activate the drug more rapidly. It is not known which of the actions of nitrofurantoin is primarily responsible for its bactericidal activity. The broad mechanism of action for nitrofurantoin is likely responsible for the low development of resistance to its effects, as it affects many different processes important to the bacterial cell.