Tetracyclines are a group of broad-spectrum antibiotic compounds that have a common basic structure and are either isolated directly from several species of Streptomyces bacteria or produced semi-synthetically from those isolated compounds. Tetracycline molecules comprise a linear fused tetracyclic nucleus (rings designated A, B, C and D) to which a variety of functional groups are attached. Tetracyclines are named after their four ("tetra-") hydrocarbon rings ("-cycl-") derivation ("-ine"). They are defined as a subclass of polyketides, having an octahydrotetracene-2-carboxamide skeleton and are known as derivatives of polycyclic naphthacene carboxamide.
While all tetracyclines have a common structure, they differ from each other by the presence of chloride, methyl, and hydroxyl groups. These modifications do not change their broad antibacterial activity, but do affect pharmacological properties such as half-life and binding to proteins in serum.
Tetracyclines were discovered in the 1940s and exhibited activity against a wide range of microorganisms including gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, chlamydiota, mycoplasmatota, rickettsiae, and protozoan parasites. Tetracycline itself was discovered later than chlortetracycline and oxytetracycline but is still considered as the parent compound for nomenclature purposes.
Tetracyclines are among the cheapest classes of antibiotics available and have been used extensively in prophylaxis and in treatment of human and animal infections, as well as at subtherapeutic levels in animal feed as growth promoters.
Tetracyclines are growth inhibitors (bacteriostatic) rather than killers of the infectious agent (bacteriocidal) and are only effective against multiplying microorganisms. They are short-acting and passively diffuse through porin channels in the bacterial membrane. They inhibit protein synthesis by binding reversibly to the bacterial 30S ribosomal subunit and preventing the aminoacyl tRNA from binding to the A site of the ribosome.
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Oxytetracycline is a broad-spectrum tetracycline antibiotic, the second of the group to be discovered. Oxytetracycline works by interfering with the ability of bacteria to produce essential proteins. Without these proteins, the bacteria cannot grow, multiply and increase in numbers. Oxytetracycline therefore stops the spread of the infection and the remaining bacteria are killed by the immune system or eventually die. Oxytetracycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, active against a wide variety of bacteria.
Psittacosis—also known as parrot fever, and ornithosis—is a zoonotic infectious disease in humans caused by a bacterium called Chlamydia psittaci and contracted from infected parrots, such as macaws, cockatiels, and budgerigars, and from pigeons, sparrows, ducks, hens, gulls and many other species of birds. The incidence of infection in canaries and finches is believed to be lower than in psittacine birds. In certain contexts, the word is used when the disease is carried by any species of birds belonging to the family Psittacidae, whereas ornithosis is used when other birds carry the disease.
A broad-spectrum antibiotic is an antibiotic that acts on the two major bacterial groups, Gram-positive and Gram-negative, or any antibiotic that acts against a wide range of disease-causing bacteria. These medications are used when a bacterial infection is suspected but the group of bacteria is unknown (also called empiric therapy) or when infection with multiple groups of bacteria is suspected. This is in contrast to a narrow-spectrum antibiotic, which is effective against only a specific group of bacteria.
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