Gentamicin
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic, and can treat many types of bacterial infections, particularly Gram-negative infection. However, gentamicin is not used for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis or Legionella pneumophila infections.
It is synthesized by Micromonospora, a genus of Gram-positive bacteria widely present in the environment (water and soil). Gentamicin is a bactericidal antibiotic that works by binding the 30S subunit of the bacterial ribosome, interrupting protein synthesis.
Like all aminoglycosides, when gentamicin is given orally, it is not systemically active. This is because it is not absorbed to any appreciable extent from the small intestine. It appears to be completely eliminated unchanged in the urine. Urine must be collected for many days to recover all of a given dose because the drug binds avidly to certain tissues. It is administered intravenously, intramuscularly or topically to treat infections.
E. coli has shown some resistance to gentamicin, despite being Gram-negative.
Gentamicin is one of the few heat-stable antibiotics that remain active even after autoclaving, which makes it particularly useful in the preparation of certain microbiological growth media.
Treatment of susceptible bacterial infections, normally gram-negative organisms including Pseudomonas, Proteus, Serratia, and Gram-positive Staphylococcus.
Category
Aminoglycoside
US Brand Names
APOGEN®, BRISTAGEN®, GARAMYCIN®, GENOPTIC®, GENTACIDIN®, GENTAFAIR®, GENTAK®, GENTAMICIN®, GENTAMICIN SULFATE®, U-GENCIN®
FDA Package Insert
Description | Clinical Pharmacology | Microbiology | Indications and Usage | Contraindications | Warnings and Precautions | Adverse Reactions | Drug Interactions | Overdosage | Clinical Studies | Dosage and Administration | How Supplied | Labels and Packages
Mechanism of Action
Gentamicin is a bactericidal antibiotic that works by irreversibly binding the 30S subunit of the bacterial ribosome, interrupting protein synthesis. This mechanism of action is similar to other aminoglycosides.