Erythromycin is a macrolide antibiotic which has an antimicrobial spectrum similar to or slightly wider than that of penicillin, and is often used for people who have an allergy to penicillins. For respiratory tract infections, it has better coverage of atypical organisms, including mycoplasma. It is also used to treat outbreaks of chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea. Structurally, this macrocyclic compound contains a 14-membered lactone ring with ten asymmetric centers and two sugars (L-cladinose and D-desoamine), making it a compound very difficult to produce via synthetic methods.

Erythromycin is produced from a strain of the actinomyces Saccaropolyspora erythraea, formerly known as Streptomyces erythraeus.

History

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Abelardo Aguilar, a Filipino scientist, sent some soil samples to his employer Eli Lilly in 1949. Eli Lilly’s research team, led by J. M. McGuire, managed to isolate Erythromycin from the metabolic products of a strain of Streptomyces erythreus (designation changed to "Saccharopolyspora erythraea") found in the samples. Lilly filed for patent protection of the compound and U.S. patent 2,653,899 was granted in 1953. The product was launched commercially in 1952 under the brand name Ilosone® (after the Philippine region of Iloilo where it was originally collected from). Erythromycin was formerly also called Ilotycin®. In 1981, Nobel laurate (1965 in chemistry) and Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) Robert B. Woodward and a large team of researchers reported the first stereocontrolled asymmetric chemical synthesis of Erythromycin A.

The antiobiotic clarithromycin was invented by scientists at the Japanese drug company Taisho Pharmaceutical in the 1970s as a result of their efforts to overcome the acid instability of erythromycin.

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Erythromycin inhibits hERG channels. When administered with an inhibitor of CYP3A4, the plasma levels are elevated and hERG block increased
tfmurray44 (Tom Murray) Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:17:07 -0000
Erythromycin inhibits hERG channels. When administered with an inhibitor of CYP3A4, the plasma levels are elevated and hERG block increased
Erythromycin: 4 mm
liam_thayer (Liam Thayer) Sun, 01 Jan 2012 21:00:09 -0000
Erythromycin: 4 mm
ophthalmic erythromycin newborn nursing implications : blacsunfmangue
MauriFonglookr (Mauricio Fong) Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:34:25 -0000
ophthalmic erythromycin newborn nursing implications : blacsunfmangue
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