BICYCLOMYCIN, A NEW ANTIBIOTIC

Abstract

Bicyclomycin is a new antibiotic active against Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Shigella, Salmonella, Citrobacter, Enterobacter cloacae, and pathogenic group of Neisseria, but inactive against Proteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Gram-positive bacteria. This antibiotic shows no cross-resistance with any of the known antibacterial drugs such as streptomycin, kanamycin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, ampicillin and nalidixic acid. Its activity is bactericidal, with little varieties of MIC values under various experimental conditions. Bicyclomycin is not degraded in culture broths of sensitive and resistant organisms or rat tissue homogenates, and the extent of binding with serum protein is very low. It was effective subcutaneously in curing E. coli experimental infections in mice with strains resistant to the usual antibiotics.