tetracycline tetracycline tetracycline, sold under various brand names, is an oral antibiotic in the tetracyclines family of medications, used to treat a number of infections, including acne, cholera, brucellosis, plague, malaria, and syphilis. this article is about the specific antibiotic. for the family of antibiotics, see tetracycline antibiotics. tetracyclineclinical datapronunciation/ˌtɛtrəˈsaɪkliːn/ ahfs/drugs.commonographmedlineplusa682098license data us fda: tetracycline pregnancycategory au: d routes ofadministrationby mouthatc codea01ab13 (who) d06aa04 (who) j01aa07 (who) s01aa09 (who) s02aa08 (who) s03aa02 (who) qg01aa90 (who) qg51aa02 (who) qj51aa07 (who)legal statuslegal status in general: ℞ (prescription only) pharmacokinetic databioavailability80%metabolismnot metabolizedelimination half-life8–11 hours, 57–108 hours (kidney impairment)excretionurine (>60%), fecesidentifierscas number60-54-8 y 64-75-5 (hydrochloride)pubchem cid54685734drugbankdb00759 ychemspider10257122 yuniif8vb5m810tkeggd00201 ychebichebi:27902 ychemblchembl1440 ypdb ligandtac (pdbe, rcsb pdb)comptox dashboard (epa)dtxsid7023645 echa infocard100.000.438 chemical and physical dataformulac22h24n2o8molar mass444.440 g·mol−13d model (jsmol)interactive image smiles c1(c2cccc(c2c(=o)c3=c(4((c31)(c(=c(c4=o)c(=o)n)o)n(c)c)o)o)o)o inchi inchi=1s/c22h24n2o8/c1-21(31)8-5-4-6-11(25)12(8)16(26)13-9(21)7-10-15(24(2)3)17(27)14(20(23)30)19(29)22(10,32)18(13)28/h4-6,9-10,15,25,27-28,31-32h,7h2,1-3h3,(h2,23,30)/t9-,10-,15-,21+,22-/m0/s1 ykey:ofvlgdictfrjmm-wesiuvdssa-n y (verify) common side effects include vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and loss of appetite. other side effects include poor tooth development if used by children less than eight years of age, kidney problems, and sunburning easily. use during pregnancy may harm the baby. it works by inhibiting protein synthesis in bacteria. tetracycline was patented in 1953 and was approved for prescription use in 1954. it is on the world health organization's list of essential medicines. tetracycline is available as a generic medication. tetracycline was originally made from bacteria of the genus streptomyces. medical uses spectrum of activity tetracyclines have a broad spectrum of antibiotic action. originally, they possessed some level of bacteriostatic activity against almost all medically relevant aerobic and anaerobic bacterial genera, both gram-positive and gram-negative, with a few exceptions, such as pseudomonas aeruginosa and proteus spp., which display intrinsic resistance. however, acquired (as opposed to inherent) resistance has proliferated in many pathogenic organisms and greatly eroded the formerly vast versatility of this group of antibiotics. resistance amongst staphylococcus spp., streptococcus spp., neisseria gonorrhoeae, anaerobes, members of the enterobacteriaceae, and several other previously sensitive organisms is now quite common. tetracyclines remain especially useful in the management of infections by certain obligately intracellular bacterial pathogens such as chlamydia, mycoplasma, and rickettsia. they are also of value in spirochaetal infections, such as syphilis, and lyme disease. certain rare or exotic infections, including anthrax, plague, and brucellosis, are also susceptible to tetracyclines. tetracycline tablets were used in the plague outbreak in india in 1994. tetracycline is first-line therapy for rocky mountain spotted fever (rickettsia), lyme disease (b. burgdorferi), q fever (coxiella), psittacosis, mycoplasma pneumoniae, and nasal carriage of meningococci. it is also one of a group of antibiotics which together may be used to treat peptic ulcers caused by bacterial infections. the mechanism of action for the antibacterial effect of tetracyclines relies on disrupting protein translation in bacteria, thereby damaging the ability of microbes to grow and repair; however, protein translation is also disrupted in eukaryotic mitochondria leading to effects that may confound experimental results. the following list presents mic susceptibility data for some medically significant microorganisms: escherichia coli: 1 μg/ml to >128 μg/ml shigella spp.: 1 μg/ml to 128 μg/ml anti-eukaryote use the tetracyclines also have activity against certain eukaryotic parasites, including those responsible for diseases such as dysentery caused by an amoeba, malaria (a plasmodium), and balantidiasis (a ciliate). use as a biomarker tetracycline hydrochloride is available as yellow crystalline powder. since tetracycline is absorbed into bone, it is used as a marker of bone growth for biopsies in humans. tetracycline labeling is used to determine the amount of bone growth within a certain period of time, usually a period around 21 days. tetracycline is incorporated into mineralizing bone and can be detected by its fluorescence. in "double tetracycline labeling", a second dose is given 11–14 days after the first dose, and the amount of bone formed during that interval can be calculated by measuring the distance between the two fluorescent labels. tetracycline is also used as a biomarker in wildlife to detect consumption of medicine- or vaccine-containing baits. side effects