Spiramycin is a

macrolide The Macrolides are a class of natural products that consist of a large macrocyclic lactone ring to which one or more deoxy sugars, usually cladinose and desosamine, may be attached. The lactone rings are usually 14-, 15-, or 16-membered. Ma ...

antibiotic and antiparasitic. It is used to treat

toxoplasmosis Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by '' Toxoplasma gondii'', an apicomplexan. Infections with toxoplasmosis are associated with a variety of neuropsychiatric and behavioral conditions. Occasionally, people may have a few weeks or mont ...

and various other infections of soft tissues. Although used in Europe, Canada and Mexico, spiramycin is still considered an experimental drug in the United States, but can sometimes be obtained by special permission from the FDA for toxoplasmosis in the first trimester of pregnancy. Another treatment option (typically used after 16w gestation) are a combination of

pyrimethamine Pyrimethamine, sold under the brand name Daraprim among others, is a medication used with leucovorin (leucovorin is used to decrease side effects of pyrimethamine; it does not have intrinsic anti-parasitic activity) to treat the parasitic dise ...

and sulfadiazine (given with

leucovorin Folinic acid, also known as leucovorin, is a medication used to decrease the toxic effects of methotrexate and pyrimethamine. It is also used in combination with 5-fluorouracil to treat colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer, may be used to tr ...

). Spiramycin has been used in Europe since the year 2000 under the

trade name A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

"Rovamycine", produced by Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Sanofi and Famar Lyon, France and Eczacıbaşı İlaç, Turkey. It also goes under the name Rovamycine in Canada (distributed by OdanLaboratories), where it is mostly marketed to dentists for mouth infections. Spiramycin is a 16-membered ring macrolide. It was isolated in 1954 as a product of ''Streptomyces ambofaciens'' by PINNERT-SINDICO. As a preparation for oral administration it has been used since 1955, in 1987 also the parenteral form was introduced into practice. The antibiotic action involves inhibition of protein synthesis in the bacterial cell during translocation. Resistance to spiramycin can develop by several mechanisms and its prevalence is to a considerable extent proportional to the frequency of prescription in a given area. The antibacterial spectrum comprises Gram-positive cocci and rods, Gram-negative cocci and also Legionellae, mycoplasmas, chlamydiae, some types of spirochetes, Toxoplasma gondii and Cryptosporidium species. Enterobacteria, pseudomonads and pathogenic moulds are resistant. Its action is mainly bacteriostatic, on highly sensitive strains it exerts a bactericide action. As compared with erythromycin, it is in vitro weight for weight 5 to 20 less effective, an equipotential therapeutic dose is, however, only double. This difference between the effectiveness in vitro and in vivo is explained above all by the great affinity of spiramycin to tissues where it achieves concentrations many times higher than serum levels. An important part is played also by the slow release of the antibiotic from the tissue compartment, the marked action on microbes in sub-inhibition concentrations and the relatively long persisting post-antibiotic effect. Its great advantage is the exceptionally favourable tolerance-gastrointestinal and general. It is available for parenteral and oral administration

References

{{Macrolides, lincosamides and streptogramins Macrolide antibiotics Secondary alcohols Aldehydes Dimethylamino compounds Conjugated dienes