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Streptomycin

 

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Streptomycin


 
 
Streptomycin is an antibioticAntibiotic

An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria....
 drug, the first of a class of drugs called aminoglycosideAminoglycoside

Aminoglycosides are a group of antibiotics that are effective against certain types of bacteria....
s to be discovered, and was the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosisTuberculosis

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects t...
. It is derived from the actinobacteriumActinobacteria

The Actinobacteria or Actinomycetes are a group of Gram-positive bacteria....
 Streptomyces griseus. Streptomycin stops bacterial growth by hurting cell membranes and inhibiting protein synthesis. Specifically, it binds to the 16S16S

16S may refer to:* 16S ribosomal RNA...
 rRNA of the bacterial ribosome, interfering with the binding of formyl-methionyl-tRNA to the 30S subunit. This prevents initiation of protein synthesis. Humans have structurally different ribosomes from bacteria, thereby allowing the selectivity of this antibiotic for bacteria. Streptomycin cannot be given orally, but must be administered by regular intramuscular injectionIntramuscular injection Summary

Intramuscular injection is the injection of a substance directly into a muscle....
. An adverse effect of this medicine is ototoxicityFacts About Ototoxicity

Ototoxicity is damage of the ear, specifically the cochlea or auditory nerve and sometimes the vestibulum, by a toxin....
.






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Timeline

1945   At the Mayo Clinic, streptomycin is first used to treat tuberculosis.






Encyclopedia


Streptomycin is an antibioticAntibiotic

An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria....
 drug, the first of a class of drugs called aminoglycosideAminoglycoside

Aminoglycosides are a group of antibiotics that are effective against certain types of bacteria....
s to be discovered, and was the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosisTuberculosis

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects t...
. It is derived from the actinobacteriumActinobacteria

The Actinobacteria or Actinomycetes are a group of Gram-positive bacteria....
 Streptomyces griseus. Streptomycin stops bacterial growth by hurting cell membranes and inhibiting protein synthesis. Specifically, it binds to the 16S16S

16S may refer to:* 16S ribosomal RNA...
 rRNA of the bacterial ribosome, interfering with the binding of formyl-methionyl-tRNA to the 30S subunit. This prevents initiation of protein synthesis. Humans have structurally different ribosomes from bacteria, thereby allowing the selectivity of this antibiotic for bacteria. Streptomycin cannot be given orally, but must be administered by regular intramuscular injectionIntramuscular injection Summary

Intramuscular injection is the injection of a substance directly into a muscle....
. An adverse effect of this medicine is ototoxicityFacts About Ototoxicity

Ototoxicity is damage of the ear, specifically the cochlea or auditory nerve and sometimes the vestibulum, by a toxin....
. It can result in temporary hearing loss.

History

It was first isolated on October 19 1943 by Albert SchatzFacts About Albert Schatz (scientist)

Albert Schatz was a scientist who was eventually named the co-discoverer of streptomycin, an antibiotic remedy used to treat...
, a graduate student, in the laboratory of Selman Abraham Waksman at Rutgers UniversityRutgers University

image = |name = Rutgers University...
. Waksman and his laboratory discovered several antibiotics, including actinomycinActinomycin

Actinomycin is any of a class of polypeptide antibiotics isolated from soil bacteria of the genus Streptomyces....
, clavacin, streptothricin, streptomycin, grisein, neomycinNeomycin

Neomycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that is found in many topical medications such as creams, ointments and eyedrops....
, fradicin, candicidinCandicidin

Candicidin is an antibiotic. ...
 and candidin. Of these, streptomycin and neomycin found extensive application in the treatment of numerous infectious diseases. Streptomycin was the first antibioticAntibiotic

An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria....
 that could be used to cure the disease tuberculosisTuberculosis

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects t...
; early production of the drug was dominated by Merck & Co.Merck & Co.

Merck & Co., Inc., also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the USA and Canada, is a United States pharm...
 under George W. MerckGeorge W. Merck

George W. Merck, the son of George Merck, was an American scientist and president of Merck & Co.....
.

The first randomized controlled trialRandomized controlled trial

A randomized controlled trial, also known as randomized clinical trial, is a form of clinical trial, or scientific pro...
 to be completed and, therefore, the first to be published, it was run by England's Medical Research Council and pitted streptomycin and bed restBed rest

Bed rest is a doctor's prescription to spend a longer period of time in bed....
 against bed rest alone, which was then the standard TB therapy. It accrued its first patients in January 1947.

Uses

Treatment of disease

  • TuberculosisTuberculosis

    Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects t...
     in combination with other anti-TB drugs. It is not the first line treatment.
  • PlagueBubonic plague

    Bubonic plague is the best-known variant of the deadly infectious disease plague, which is caused by the enterobacteri...
     (Yersinia pestisYersinia pestis

    Yersinia pestis is a Gram-negative bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae....
    ) has historically been treated with it as the first line treatment. It is approved for this purpose by the U.S. FDA.
  • Infective endocarditis caused by enterococcus when the organism is not sensitive to GentamicinGentamicin

    Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic, and can treat many different types of bacterial infections, particularly Gram-ne...
  • In veterinary medicineVeterinary medicine Overview

    Veterinary medicine is the application of medical, diagnostic, and therapeutic principles to companion, domestic, exotic, wi...
    , streptomycin is the first line antibiotic for use against gram negative bacteria in large animals. It is commonly combined with procaine penicillinPenicillin

    Penicillin refers to a group of -lactam antibiotics used in the treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible, u...
     for intramuscular injection.

Bacterial selection experiments

When grown on medium containing streptomycin, bacteria such as Escherichia coli are dependent upon expression of the aadA gene in order to survive (Joung et al., 2000). Thus, a suitably engineered E. coli strain, can be combined with a streptomycin-doped medium to select only bacteria hosting a successful interaction in two-hybrid screeningTwo-hybrid screening

Two-hybrid screening is a molecular biology technique used to discover protein-protein interactions by testing for physical ...
 experiments and methods derivative of two-hybrid screening (Hurt et al., 2003; Joung et al., 2000) Streptomycin is an antibiotic that inhibits both gram positive and gram negative bacteria, and is a therefore a useful broad spectrum antibiotic.

Pesticide

Streptomycin is also used as a pesticide, to combat the growth of bacteria, fungi, and algae. Streptomycin controls bacterial and fungal diseases of certain fruit, vegetables, seed, and
ornamental crops, and controls algae in ornamental ponds and aquaria. A major use is in the control of fireblightFireblight

Fireblight is a contagious disease affecting apples, pears, and some other members of the family Rosaceae....
 on apple and pear trees. As in medical applications, extensive use can be associated with the development of resistant strains.

See also

  • NeomycinNeomycin

    Neomycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that is found in many topical medications such as creams, ointments and eyedrops....
  • Philip D'Arcy HartPhilip D'Arcy Hart

    Philip Montagu DArcy Hart, CBE, was a British medical researcher and pioneer in tuberculosis treatment....