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 of infections. 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 | 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 overusage of antibiotics many bacteria have developed a resistance against kanamycin, and, consequently, it is not used much anymore.
Use in Research
Genes encoding kanamycin resistance are commonly used as selectable markers in molecular biology.