rolitetracycline

Rolitetracycline is a semisynthetic broad-spectrum tetracycline antibiotic developed in the late 1950s as the first of the semi-synthetic tetracyclines. It is formed by a Mannich condensation of formaldehyde and pyrrolidine with tetracycline and acts as a prodrug of tetracycline. The addition of the pyrrolidine moiety improves its bioavailability compared to tetracycline but also makes it unstable at certain pH levels; therefore it is primarily administered parenterally (intramuscularly or intravenously) when high concentrations are needed or oral administration is impractical[1][2][3][4]. Mechanistically, rolitetracycline passively diffuses through bacterial porin channels and binds reversibly to the 30S ribosomal subunit. This binding prevents aminoacyl tRNA from attaching to the mRNA-ribosome complex and thereby inhibits protein synthesis in susceptible bacteria[2][3][5]. Rolitetracycline has broad-spectrum activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as some protozoa[5].

Other names

rolitetracycline(2Z,4S,4aS,5aS,6S,12aS)-4-Dimethylamino-6,10,11,12a-tetrahydroxy-2-[hydroxy-(pyrrolidin-1-ylmethylamino)methylidene]-6-methyl-4,4a,5,5a-tetrahydrotetracene-1,3,12-trione