New directions for macrolide antibiotics: pharmacokinetics and clinical efficacy

New directions for macrolide antibiotics: pharmacokinetics and clinical efficacy.

Erythromycin and related macrolide antibiotics have recently enjoyed a resurgence of clinical interest. This is a result of activity against organisms which are becoming more prevalent, particularly in immunocompromised hosts and, in addition, better understanding of the unique tissue penetration properties and potential immunomodulating properties of macrolides. Other features of clinical inte...

Macrolide antibiotics and pulmonary inflammation.

Many clinically effective therapeutic agents can exhibit localized and systemic effects that are manifestly different from their intended primary pharmacological mode of action. Macrolide antibiotics such as erythromycin and its derivatives are no exception. In addition to their antibacterial action, this class of antibiotics exhibits anti-inflammatory activity in a variety of airway diseases s...

The polyene macrolide antibiotics.

The mode of action of the polyene antibiotics is reviewed together with the effect of genetic and environmental factors on sensitive organisms. The future prospects of polyenes in the treatment of systemic mycoses are considered.

Macrolide antibiotics and cystic fibrosis.

Chimeramycins: new macrolide antibiotics produced by hybrid biosynthesis.

Sir: Microbial conversion of antibiotically inactive macrocyclic lactones to active compounds is an important approach in the search for new macrolide antibiotics. Mutational biosynthesis originally proposed by SHIER et al.1) was proved useful also for constructing new macrolide antibiotics and many new derivatives were obtained. However, these were virtually inactive,2-1) or weakly active and ...