Chloramphenicol

Chloramphenicol (or 2,2-dichlor-N-[(aR,bR)-b-hydroxy-a-hydroxymethyl-4-nitrophenethyl]acetamide) is an antibioticthat was derived from the bacteriumStreptomyces venezuelae and is now produced synthetically. Chloramphenicol is effective against a wide variety of microorganisms, but due to serious side-effects (e.g., damage to the bone marrow, including aplastic anemia) in humans, it is usually reserved for the treatment of serious and life-threatening infections(e.g., typhoid fever).

Regardless of serious side-effects, the WHO advocates its use in many third world countries for pediatric treatment in the absence of cheaper alternatives. It is used in treatment of cholera, as it destroys the vibriosand decreases the diarrhea. It is effective against tetracycline-resistant vibrios.

It is also used in eye dropsor ointment, commonly sold under the name of Chlorsig, to treat bacterial conjunctivitis.

Mechanism and Resistance

Chloramphenicol stops bacterial growth by binding to the bacterial ribosome(blocking peptidyl transferase) and inhibiting protein synthesis.

Resistance to chloramphenicol is conferred by the cat-gene. This genecodes for an enzymecalled "chloramphenicol acetyltransferase" which inactivates chloramphenicol by covalently linking one or two acetylgroups, derived from acetyl-S-coenzyme A, to the hydroxylgroups on the chloramphenicol. The acetylation prevents chloramphenicol from binding to the ribosome.

Codes

It has many different codings in the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System:

• D06AX02
• D10AF03
• G01AA05
• J01BA01
• S01AA01
• S02AA01
• S03AA08

External links

• Merck
• NLM/Medline
• University of Pennsylvaniade:Chloramphenicol

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramphenicol Wikipedia article Chloramphenicol.