tetracycline

(tĕ'trəsī`klēn), any of a group of antibiotics produced by bacteria of the genus Streptomyces. Effective against a wide range of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria, tetracycline interferes with protein synthesis in these microorganisms (see Gram's stainGram's stain,
laboratory staining technique that distinguishes between two groups of bacteria by the identification of differences in the structure of their cell walls. The Gram stain, named after its developer, Danish bacteriologist Christian Gram, has become an important tool
..... Click the link for more information. ). It has been used to treat rickettsial bacterial infections such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, some eye, respiratory, intestinal, and urinary infections, some kinds of acne, and some diseases where the infecting microorganism is resistant to penicillinpenicillin,
any of a group of chemically similar substances obtained from molds of the genus Penicillium that were the first antibiotic agents to be used successfully in the treatment of bacterial infections in humans.
..... Click the link for more information. (see drug resistancedrug resistance,
condition in which infecting bacteria can resist the destructive effects of drugs such as antibiotics and sulfa drugs. Drug resistance has become a serious public health problem, since many disease-causing bacteria are no longer susceptible to previously
..... Click the link for more information. ). Tetracycline may cause permanent discoloration of developing teeth, and it is not given to pregnant and lactating women and growing children. Because of the development of strains of microorganisms resistant to the tetracyclines, these antibiotics have lost some of their usefulness. Aureomycin is a trade name for the derivative chlortetracycline, and Terramycin is a trade name for oxytetracycline. Omadacycline (trade name Nuzyra) is an antibiotic derived from tetracycline that has been chemically altered to block bacterial resistance.

Tetracycline

any of a group of natural and semisynthetic antibiotics of similar chemical structure and biological action. In terms of chemical structure, tetracyclines are a tetracyclic condensed system with various substituents.

The natural tetracyclines—oxytetracycline (terramycin), chlortetracycline (aureomycin), and tetracycline—were discovered and isolated in the 1940’s and 1950’s from the metabolic products of such actinomycetes as Actinomyces rimosus and A. aureofaciens. (In the non-Soviet literature, the genus Actinomyces is called Streptomyces.)

Preparations obtained by the chemical modification of natural tetracyclines, as well as semisynthetic derivatives of tetracycline, are also used in medicine. Examples of the first group are Reve-rin, morphocycline, and glycocycline; among the members of the second are methacycline hydrochloride (Rondomycin), doxycycline (Vibramycin), and minocycline.

Tetracyclines are broad-spectrum antibiotics. They inhibit the growth of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, spirochetes, leptospires, rickettsiae, mycoplasmas, several protozoans (amoe-bas and trichomonads), and large viruses of the psittacosis-lym-phogranuloma and trachoma groups. They are inactive or only slightly active against Proteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and most fungi and small viruses. The bacteriostatic action of tetracyclines results from the repression of protein biosynthesis in the bacterial cell.

The development of resistance to one of the tetracyclines is accompanied by resistance to all other tetracyclines except minocycline. Preparations combining tetracyclines with antibiotics having a different mechanism of antimicrobial action, such as oleandomycin, are used to prevent the propagation of strains resistant to tetracycline.

Tetracyclines are used for the treatment of diseases of the respiratory organs and the gastrointestinal, urinary, and biliary tracts, as well as infections of the soft tissues, epidemic typhus, and other diseases caused by microorganisms sensitive to these drugs. Tetracyclines are effective in infections caused by microorganisms that are resistant to other antibiotics.

REFERENCES

Chernukh, A. M., and G. Ia. Kivman. Antibiotiki gruppy tetratsiklinov. Moscow, 1962.
Barton, D. H. R. “Novye puti sinteza tetratsiklina.” Zhurnal Vses. khimicheskogo obshchestva im. D. I. Mendeleeva, 1971, vol. 16, no. 2.
Navashin, S. M., and I. P. Fomina. Spravochnik po antibiotikam, 3rd ed. Moscow, 1974.
Finland, M. “Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Discovery of Aureomycin: The Place of the Tetracyclines in Antimicrobial Therapy.” Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 1974, vol. 15, no. 1.

L. E. GOL’DBERG

tetracycline

[‚te·trə′sī‚klēn] (microbiology) Any of a group of broad-spectrum antibiotics produced biosynthetically by fermentation with a strain of Streptomyces aureofaciens and certain other species or chemically by hydrogenolysis of chlortetracycline. C₂₂H₂₄O₈N₂ A broad-spectrum antibiotic belonging to the tetracycline group of antibiotics; useful because of broad antimicrobial action, with low toxicity, in the therapy of infections caused by gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria as well as rickettsiae and large viruses such as psittacosis-lymphogranuloma viruses.

tetracycline

[tet″rah-si´klēn] 1. any of a group of related broad-spectrum antibiotics; some are isolated from certain species of Streptomyces and others are produced semisynthetically. The group includes chlortetracycline, demeclocycline, doxycycline, minocycline, oxytetracycline, and tetracycline (def. 2). Tetracyclines are effective against a wide range of aerobic and anaerobic gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, and are used particularly for rickettsiae, mycoplasmas, and chlamydiae; they are also effective against certain protozoa.2. a semisynthetic antibiotic having the same wide spectrum of antimicrobial activity as other members of the tetracycline group; administered orally. The hydrochloride salt has similar actions and is administered orally, intramuscularly, intravenously, or topically to the skin or conjunctiva.

tet·ra·cy·cline

(tet-ră-sī'klēn, -klin), A broad spectrum antibiotic (a naphthacene derivative), the parent of oxytetracycline, prepared from chlortetracycline and also obtained from the culture filtrate of several species of Streptomyces; also available as tetracycline hydrochloride and tetracycline phosphate complex. Tetracycline fluorescence has been used in studies of growing tumors and calcium deposition in developing bone and teeth.

tetracycline

(tĕt′rə-sī′klēn′, -klĭn)n.1. A yellow crystalline compound, C₂₂H₂₄N₂O₈, synthesized or derived from certain microorganisms of the genus Streptomyces and used as a broad-spectrum antibiotic.2. An antibiotic, such as chlortetracycline and oxytetracycline, having the same basic structure.

tetracycline

Tet Dermatology An antibiotic widely used for acne vulgaris Infectious disease Tetracycline is used to manage Rickettsiae–RMSF, typhus fever, typhus group, Q fever, rickettsialpox, tick fevers, Mycoplasma pneumonia e, Chlamydia–psittacosis/ornithosis, LGV, granuloma inguinale; Borrelia recurrentis–relapsing fever; gram-negative bugs–Haemophilus ducreyi–chancroid agent, Pasteurella pestis, P tularensis, Bartonella bacilliformis, Bacteroides spp, Vibrio comma, V fetus, Brucella spp Adverse effects GI–anorexia, epigastric distress, N&V, diarrhea, bulky loose stools, stomatitis, sore throat, glossitis, black hairy tongue, dysphagia, hoarseness, enterocolitis, anogenital lesions with monilial overgrowth Molecular biology A broad-spectrum bacteriostatic that inhibits protein synthesis by preventing aminoacyl tRNA from binding to ribosomes. See Tetracycline labeling.

tetracycline

One of a group of antibiotic drugs originally derived from Streptomyces species. They are used to treat a wide range of infections including RICKETTSIAL DISEASES, CHOLERA, BRUCELLOSIS, LYME DISEASE and most of the SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES. They have the disadvantage that they are deposited in bones and teeth and will cause permanent yellow staining of the latter if given to young children. They will similarly affect fetuses if given to women in late pregnancy. The tetracyclines have a useful effect on ACNE and ROSACEA. This does not imply that acne is an infection. Tetracyclines are effective in acne because non-pathogenic bacteria present in the sebum in acne produce enzymes that separate fatty acids from the fats and these acids cause inflammation. Tetracyclines are concentrated in sebum, while penicillins are not. Tetracyclines are on the WHO official drug list. Brand names are Achromycin, Deteclo and, for external use, Topicycline.

tetracycline

an ANTIBIOTIC of the broad spectrum type, so called because of its effect on a wide variety of bacteria including both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria (see GRAM'S STAIN). Tetracycline inhibits bacterial PROTEIN SYNTHESIS. Various tetracyclines are produced by STREPTOMYCES species, including clinically important ones such as aureomycin and terramycin.

antibiotic

1. Pertaining to the ability to destroy or inhibit other living organisms. 2. A substance derived from a mould or bacterium, or produced synthetically, that destroys (bactericidal) or inhibits the growth (bacteriostatic) of other microorganisms and is thus used to treat infections. Some substances have a narrow spectrum of activity whereas others act against a wide range of both gram-positive and gram-negative organisms (broad-spectrum antibiotics). Antibiotics can be classified into several groups according to their mode of action on or within bacteria: (1) Drugs inhibiting bacterial cell wall synthesis, such as bacitracin, vancomycin and the β-lactams based agents (e.g. penicillin, cephalosporins (e.g. ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefuroxime). (2) Drugs affecting the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane, such as polymyxin B sulfate and gramicidin. (3) Drugs inhibiting bacterial protein synthesis, such as aminoglycosides (e.g. amikacin sulfate, framycetin sulfate, gentamicin, neomycin sulfate and tobramycin), tetracyclines, macrolides (e.g. erythromycin and azithromycin) and chloramphenicol. (4) Drugs inhibiting the intermediate metabolism of bacteria, such as sulfonamides (e.g. sulfacetamide sodium) and trimethoprim. (5) Drugs inhibiting bacterial DNA synthesis, such as nalixidic acid and fluoroquinolones (e.g. ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, norfloxacin and ofloxacin). (6) Other antibiotics such as fusidic acid, the diamidines, such as propamidine isethionate and dibrompropamidine. Syn. antibacterial. See antiinflammatory drug; fusidic acid.

tet·ra·cy·cline

(tetră-sīklēn, -klin) Broad-spectrum antibiotic; its fluorescence has been used in studies of growing tumors and calcium deposition in developing bones and teeth.

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Synonyms for tetracycline

noun an antibiotic (trade name Achromycin) derived from microorganisms of the genus Streptomyces and used broadly to treat infections

Synonyms

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