Pristinamycin

Pristinamycin (INN), also spelt pristinamycine, is an antibioticused primarily in the treatment of staphylococcalinfections, and to a lesser extent streptococcalinfections. It is a streptogramingroup antibiotic, similar to virginiamycin, derived from the bacterium Streptomyces pristina spiralis. It is marketed in Europe by Sanofi-Aventisunder the trade name Pyostacine.

Pristinamycin is a mixture of two components that have a synergistic antibacterial action. Pristinamycin I is a macrolide, and results in pristinamycin having a similar spectrum of action to erythromycin. Pristinamycin II is a depsipeptide. (Hamilton-Miller, 1991)

Clinical use

Despite the macrolide component, it is effective against erythromycin-resistant staphylococci and strepcococci. (Weber, 2001; Leclercq, 2003) Importantly, it is active against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA). Its usefulness for severe infections, however, may be limited by the lack of an intravenousformulation owing to its poor solubility. (Sweetman, 2004) Nevertheless it is sometimes used as an alternative to rifampicin+fusidic acidand linezolidfor the treatment of MRSA.

The lack of an intravenous formulation led to the development of the pristinamycin-derivative quinupristin-dalfopristin, which may be administered intravenously for more severe MRSA infections.

See also

• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA)
• Quinupristin-dalfopristin

References

• Hamilton-Miller JMT. From foreign pharmacopoeias: 'new' antibiotics from old? J Antimicrob Chemother 1991;27:702-5. PMID 1938680
• Leclercq R, et al. Activite in vitro de la pristinamycine vis-a-vis des staphylocoques isoles dans les hopitaux francais en 1999-2000. Pathol Biol (Paris) 2003;51:400-4. PMID 12948760
• Sweetman S, editor. Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference, 34th edition. London: Pharmaceutical Press; 2004. ISBN 0853695504
• Weber P. Streptococcus pneumoniae: absence d'emergence de resistance a la pristinamycine. Pathol Biol (Paris) 2001;49:840-5. PMID 11776696

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pristinamycin Wikipedia article Pristinamycin.