ABSORPTION, DISTRIBUTION AND EXCRETION OF STREPTOMYCIN

Abstract

Streptomycin, an antibiotic substance obtained from the microorganism Actinomyces griseus, was described in January 1944 by Schatz, Bugie and Waksman.¹This material was shown to possess activity in vitro over a wide range of bacteria but was of particular interest because it was effective against many bacteria which were not susceptible to the chemotherapeutic substances then available for the treatment of human infections. Subsequent reports have confirmed these observations and, in addition, have shown that streptomycin is effective in the treatment of experimental infections with organisms of the Eberthella and Salmonella groups²and with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella gallinarum, Brucella abortus and Proteus vulgaris,³as well as with Pasteurella tularensis⁴and with the Klebsiella organisms.⁵Streptomycin was also found to possess activity against the tubercle bacillus both in vitro⁶and in vivo.⁷The toxicity of a partially purified product for mice was reported to be of a fairly low order