Oxytetracycline

Oxytetracycline is known as a broad-spectrum antibiotic due to its activity against such a wide range of infections.It was the second of the Tetracyclines to be discovered. It was first found near Pfizer laboratories in a soil sample yielding the soil bacillus, Streptomyces rimosus. In 1953, a celebrated American biochemist, Robert B Woodward, son of a Scottish immigrant woman, worked out the chemical structure of Oxytetracycline, enabling Pfizer to mass produce the drug under the tradename, Terramycin. This discovery by Woodward was a major advancement in Tetracycline research and eventually lead to the synthesis of an Oxytetracycline derivative, Doxycycline, probably the most commonly used Tetracycline nowadays. more...

Application

Oxytetracycline, like other Tetracyclines, is used to treat many infections common and rare. These include infections of the respiratory tract, sinuses, middle ear, skin and flesh, urinary tract, intestines and also Gonorrhoea, especially in patients allergic to Beta-lactams and Macrolides, however, as with other Tetracyclines, its use for these indications is less popular than it once was due to widespread resistance development in the causative organisms.

Oxyteracycline can also used to treat rarer conditions such as Anthrax, Plague, Brucellosis, Tularaemia, Cholera, Legionnaire's disease and Rickettsial infections. It is frequently used against Non Specific urethritis, Trachoma, Psittacosis, Borreliosis, Lymphogranuloma venereum and infections involving Chlamydia, Mycoplasma or Ureaplasma.

It is often used to treat Spirochaetal infection and Clostridial wound infection in patients sensitive to Penicillin.

Oxytetracycline has been used for very severe acne.

The standard dose is 250-500mg six hourly by mouth. In particularly severe infections this dose may be increased accordingly. Occasionally, Oxytetracycline is given by intramuscular injection or topically in the form of cream or eyedrops.

Other Applications

Oxytetracycline is used to control the outbreak of American Foulbrood and European Foulbrood in honeybees.

Ingredients

Often administered orally in the form of 250mg Tablets. Oxytetracycline tablets contain magnesium, stearate, maize starch, propylene glycol, colloidal silica, sodium dodecyl sulfate, E104, E110, E171, E463, E464, E553.

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