oxytetracycline Pharm.
(ˌɒksɪtɛtrəˈsaɪkliːn)
[f. oxy- 2 + tetracycline.]
The 5-hydroxy derivative, C22H24N2O9, of tetracycline (usu. administered in the form of its yellow hydrochloride), which is an antimicrobial substance produced by cultures of the bacterium Streptomyces rimosus and has actions and uses similar to those of other tetracyclines.
| 1953 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 3 Jan. 46/1 Both compounds possess a common four-ringed skeleton, for which the generic term tetracycline has been proposed. They differ only in that aureomycin has a chlorine atom at ring one while terramycin has a hydroxyl group at ring three. The chemically descriptive generic names chlorotetracycline and oxytetracycline, respectively, have therefore been proposed for the two compounds. 1958 Times 29 Sept. 2/7 The promise of antibiotics as a means of controlling certain plant diseases has been brought a step nearer fulfilment by a recent Order which permits the use of streptomycin and oxytetracycline. 1966 Economist 9 Apr. 169/1 This February, Pfizer's patent monopoly on the drug, oxytetracycline, expired. 1969 Crofton & Douglas Respiratory Dis. xviii. 321/1 Sometimes oxytetracycline or chlortetracycline is better tolerated [than tetracycline]. 1974 R. M. Kirk et al. Surgery ii. 24 Oxytetracycline is given to prevent secondary infection. |