Kanamycin
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Kanamycin sulfate is an aminoglycoside antibiotic, available in both oral and intravenous forms, and used to treat a wide variety ofinfections. Kanamycin is isolated from Streptomyces kanamyceticus.
Category
Aminoglycoside
US Brand Names
KANAMYCIN® (DISCONTINUED), KANAMYCIN SULFATE® (DISCONTINUED), KANTREX® (DISCONTINUED), KLEBCIL® (DISCONTINUED)
FDA Package Insert
Description | Clinical Pharmacology | Microbiology | Indications and Usage | Contraindications | Warnings and Precautions | Adverse Reactions | Drug Interactions | Overdosage | Clinical Studies | Dosage and Administration | How Supplied | Labels and Packages
Mechanism of Action
Kanamycin works by affecting the 30S ribosomal subunit and causing a frameshift mutation or it prevents the translation of RNA.
Because of over-usage of antibiotics many bacteria have developed a resistance against kanamycin, and, consequently, it is not used much anymore.
References
Pharmacology
Side effects
Common side effects include changes in hearing (either hearing loss or ringing in the ears), toxicity to kidneys, and allergic reactions to the drug.
Use in Research
Genes encoding kanamycin resistance are commonly used as selectable markers in molecular biology.