Oxytetracycline

Oxytetracycline, yellow crystalline powder, is a product of the metabolism of Streptomyces rimosus and is one of the family of tetracycline antibiotics; it is used chiefly in treating infections caused by streptococci, staphylococci, Gram-negative bacilli, rickettsiae, and certain protozoans and viruses. Tetracyclines inhibit bacterial protein synthesis by binding to the 30S ribosomal subunit. Oxytetracycline acts as a inhibitor of a growth (bacteriostatic) rather than killer of the infectious agent (bacteriocidal) and is only effective against multiplying microorganisms.

Oxytetracycline diffuses readily through the placenta into the fetal circulation, into the pleural fluid and, under some circumstances, into the cerebrospinal fluid. It appears to be concentrated in the hepatic system and excreted in the bile, so that it appears in the feces, as well as in the urine, in a biologically active form.