Small molecule
PubChem CID 447043
Azithromycin
Zithromax
- Mechanism of action
- Inhibits 50S ribosomal subunit
- In plain language
- Latches onto bacteria's protein-building machinery and jams it, so the bacteria can't make the proteins they need to grow and multiply.
- How it works
- Azithromycin, an azalide macrolide, binds reversibly to the 23S ribosomal RNA of the bacterial 50S ribosomal subunit. This blocks translocation of peptidyl-tRNA during translation and interferes with assembly of the 50S subunit itself, arresting bacterial protein synthesis. The drug concentrates heavily in phagocytes and tissues and has an unusually long terminal half-life (about 68 hours), so therapeutic levels persist at infection sites well after dosing ends. The resulting halt in protein production is bacteriostatic (bactericidal against some organisms at higher concentrations), stopping bacterial replication and allowing host immune clearance.
- Therapeutic applications
- FDA-approved for community-acquired pneumonia and pelvic inflammatory disease in adults. Oral formulations are additionally indicated for acute bacterial exacerbations of chronic bronchitis, acute bacterial sinusitis, pharyngitis/tonsillitis (as an alternative to first-line agents), uncomplicated skin and skin-structure infections, urethritis and cervicitis due to Chlamydia trachomatis or Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and genital ulcer disease (chancroid) in adult men. Pediatric indications (oral) include acute otitis media, community-acquired pneumonia, and pharyngitis/tonsillitis.
- Class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- Antibiotic
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