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Polymyxin



Polymyxins are cationic detergent antibiotics, with a general structure of a cyclic peptide with a long hydrophobic tail. They disrupt the structure of the bacterial cell membrane by interacting with its phospholipids. Polymyxins have a bactericidal effect on Gram-negative bacilli, especially on Pseudomonas and coliform organisms. Polymyxin antibiotics are highly neurotoxic and nephrotoxic[citations needed], and very poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Polymyxins also have antifungal activity.

Well known examples:

Polymyxin acts as an antibiotic by damaging the cytoplasmic membrane of bacteria. Also polymyxins biological source is Bacillius polymyxa.

See also

  • Polysporin
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Polymyxin". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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