Talk:Vancomycin
From Academic Kids
Could we have some information about who manufactures it and when its patent will run out?
- Its patent was held by Eli Lilly but it has now run out and vancomycin is available as a generic drug. -- Someone else 22:09 Nov 13, 2002 (UTC)
Also, I don't understand the paragraph about oral vancomycin. It is not absorbed by the bowel, but why does that help in treating the antibiotic overdose? AxelBoldt 17:05 Nov 13, 2002 (UTC)
- The initial use of broad-spectrum antibiotics results in overgrowth within the bowel of Clostridium difficile. This bacterium produces toxin that cause the condition "pseudomembranous enterocolitis". It's very frequently seen after the use of clindamycin, cephalosporins and (less often) penicillin, because these antibiotics kill the normal bowel flora that generally keeps the C. difficile under control. The vancomycin, with its high concentration within the bowel, is used to kill the C. difficile: the previous antibiotics usually have already been discontinued, so what's being treated is not so much a case of antibiotic overdose as an infection caused by indiscriminate or profligate antibiotic overuse. -- Someone else 22:09 Nov 13, 2002 (UTC)
- Thanks a lot, that clarifies it; I'll add it to the article. AxelBoldt 03:51 Nov 14, 2002 (UTC)
[edit]
Structure
EDITED NOTE - the structure to the right shows the stererochemistry of the C6 carbon atom as S. I believe that it should in fact be R. The C-6 carbon atom is on the RHS & carries the leucine group (-NH-CO-CH(NHMe)-CH2CH(CH3). You can check the structure at www.chemfinder.com - type "vancomycin" into the search engine. -- 195.157.146.246
- Thanks for the detail in your explanation. The stereochemistry I've drawn here is based on that in Foye's Medicinal Chemistry1, and seems consistent with that in the Vancocin CP Approved Product Information2. However, my understanding is that vancomycin is actually a blend of several molecules1; so it may well be that both the Chemfinder and this one are valid. Probably need another opinion from a medicinal chemist...
1. Mitscher LA (2002). Antibiotics and Antimicrobial Agents. In Williams DA & Lemke TL (Eds.), Foye's Principles of Medicinal Chemistry (5 ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
2. Eli Lilly Australia Pty Ltd (2002). Vancocin CP Approved Product Information. West Ryde: Eli Lilly Australia
Techelf 07:09, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)
[edit]
Cancer caused by Vancomycin
I am looking for information about cancer caused by this drug when taken oraly.
- The Approved Product Information in Australia and Data Sheet in New Zealand both state something to the effect of, "Although no long-term studies in animals have been performed to evaluate carcinogenic potential, no mutagenic potential of vancomycin was found in standard laboratory tests." (from Vancocin pulvule datasheet (http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/Profs/Datasheet/discontinued/vancocincap.htm)) Put into perspective, though, vancomycin is the drug of last resort and any hypothetical risk of carcinogenesis is probably far outweighed by the potentially-fatal effects of staphylococcal enterocolitis or C. difficile pseudomembranous colitis. -Techelf 10:20, 4 May 2005 (UTC)
