Demeclocycline is a tetracycline antibiotic that inhibits bacterial cell growth by inhibiting translation. It is lipophilic and can easily pass through cell membranes or passively diffuse through porin channels in bacterial membranes. Demeclocycline is bacteriostatic; it impairs bacterial growth but does not kill bacterial directly. Demeclocycline reversibly binds to the bacterial 30S and to a lesser extent the 50S ribosomal subunits. Binding prevents the amino-acyl tRNA from binding to the A site of the ribosome complex, which subsequently impairs protein synthesis. Demeclocycline may be used against susceptible strains of Rickettsiae (e.g. Rocky Mountain spotted fever, typhus fever, Q fever, rickettsial pox and Brill-Zinsser disease), Chlamydiae (psittacosis, lymphogranuloma venereum, uncomplicated sexually transmitted infections), Mycoplasma pneumoniae (PPLO, Eaton agent), Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease), and some uncommon gram-negative infections caused by Brucella sp., Bartonella sp., Calymmatobacterium granulomatis, Vibrio cholera.

Demeclocycline Pathway References