Abstract

CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY OF ERYTHROMYCIN

Gian Maria Pacifici*

ABSTRACT

Erythromycin is a macrolide antibiotic and erythromycin usually is bacteriostatic but may be bactericidal in high concentrations against susceptible organisms. Erythromycin has good activity against streptococci, Streptococcus pneumoniae, methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Enterococcus faecium but macrolide resistance among Streptococcus pneumoniae often coexist with penicillin resistance. Gram-positive bacilli are frequently sensitive to erythromycin, including Clostridium perfringens, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, and Listeria monocytogenes. Erythromycin has modest activity in-vitro against Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria meningitis and has good activity against Neisseria gonorrhoea Borrelia species, Bordetellapertussis, Mycobacterium pneumoniae, Legionella pneumophilia, and Chlamydia trachomatis. Erythromycin base is incompletely absorbed from the upper small intestine because is inactivated by gastric acid and esters of erythromycin base (e.g. stearate, estolate, and ethylsuccinate) have improved acid stability. Erythromycin has been found to be efficacy and safe, the prevention of bacterial infections with erythromycin, the treatment of bacterial infections with erythromycin, and the trials conducted with erythromycin have been reviewed. The pharmacokinetics of erythromycin have been studied in healthy male volunteers on days 1 and 3 of treatment and the mean elimination half-life of erythromycin in plasma is 1.67 and 2.26 hours on days 1 and 3, respectively, of treatment. The penetration of erythromycin into human tissues, the interaction of erythromycin with drugs, and the toxicity caused by erythromycin have been reviewed. The aim of this study is to review the erythromycin efficacy and safely, prevention of bacterial infections, treatment of bacterial infections, trials, pharmacokinetics, penetration into human tissues, interaction with drugs, and toxicity.

Keywords: Drug-interaction, efficacy-safely, erythromycin, pharmacokinetics, prophylaxis, tissue-penetration, toxicity, treatment, and trials.