Tetracycline is an oral antibiotic used to treat various bacterial infections like acne, cholera, and syphilis. It works by blocking the ability of bacteria to make proteins. Common side effects include vomiting, diarrhea, rash and loss of appetite. Precautions should be taken as it can discolor teeth if taken by children under 8, interact with other medications, and harm fetal development if used during pregnancy.

1. Tetracycline
• Tetracycline, is an antibiotic
used to treat a number of
infections.
• This includes acne, cholera,
brucellosis, plague, malaria,
and syphilis.
• It is taken by mouth.

2. Tetracycline antibiotic.

3. Common side effects include
•vomiting,
•diarrhea,
•rash,
•and loss of appetite.

4. Other side effects include
• Poor tooth development if used by
children less than eight years of age,
kidney problems, and sunburning easily.
• Use during pregnancy may harm the
baby.
• Tetracycline is in the tetracyclines family
of medications.
• It works by blocking the ability of
bacteria to make proteins.

5. Medical uses
• It is first-line therapy for Rocky Mountain
spotted fever (Rickettsia),
• Lyme disease (B. burgdorferi),
• Q fever (Coxiella),
• psittacosis,
• lymphogranuloma venereum
(Chlamydia), and Mycoplasma
pneumoniae and to eradicate nasal
carriage of meningococci.

6. Spectrum of bacterial susceptibility
• Tetracyclines have a broad spectrum
of antibiotic action.
• MIC susceptibility data for a few
medically significant
microorganisms:
• Escherichia coli: 1 μg/mL — >128
μg/mL
• Shigella spp.: 1 μg/mL — 128 μg/mL

7. Mechanisms of resistance
• Bacteria usually acquire resistance to
tetracycline from horizontal transfer of a gene
that either encodes an efflux pump or a
ribosomal protection protein.
• Efflux pumps actively eject tetracycline from
the cell, preventing the buildup of an
inhibitory concentration of tetracycline in the
cytoplasm.
• Ribosomal protection proteins interact with
the ribosome and dislodge tetracycline from
the ribosome, allowing for translation to
continue.

8. Precautions
• Use of the tetracycline antibiotics group is
problematic; they can:
• Discolor permanent teeth (yellow-gray-brown), from
prenatal period through childhood and adulthood
• Be inactivated by Ca2+ ions, so are not to be taken with
milk, yogurt, and other dairy products
• Be inactivated by aluminium, iron, and zinc, not to be
taken at the same time as indigestion remedies
(common antacids and over-the-counter heartburn
medicines)
• Cause skin photosensitivity, so exposure to the sun or
intense light is not recommended

9. • Cause drug-induced lupus, and hepatitis
• Cause microvesicular fatty liver
• Cause tinnitus
• Interfere with methotrexate by displacing it
from the various protein-binding sites
• Cause breathing complications, as well as
anaphylactic shock, in some individuals
• Affect bone growth of the fetus, so should
be avoided during pregnancy
• Fanconi syndrome may result from ingesting
expired tetracyclines

10. Other uses
•Since tetracycline is
absorbed into bone, it
is used as a marker of
bone growth for
biopsies in humans.

11. Cell culture
• Tetracycline is used in cell biology as a
selective agent in cell culture systems.
• It is toxic to prokaryotic and
eukaryotic cells and selects for cells
harboring the bacterial tet r gene,
which encodes a 399-amino-acid,
membrane-associated protein.

12. Mechanism of action
• Tetracycline inhibits protein synthesis by
blocking the attachment of charged
aminoacyl-tRNA to the A site on the
ribosome.
• Tetracycline binds to the 30S subunit of
microbial ribosomes.
• Thus, it prevents introduction of new
amino acids to the nascent peptide
chain.