Methacycline is a tetracycline antibiotic. Similar to other tetracyclines, it has a wide spectrum of antimicrobial action. It is active against most Gram-positive bacteria (pneumococci, streptococci, staphylococci) and Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli, salmonella, shigella, etc.), and towards agents causing onithosis, psittacosis, trachoma, and some Protozoa. Like other tetracyclines, the general usefulness of methacycline has been reduced with the onset of bacterial resistance.Methacycline, a tetracycline antibiotic, is a protein synthesis inhibitors, inhibiting the binding of aminoacyl-tRNA to the mRNA-ribosome complex. Methacycline inhibits cell growth by inhibiting translation. It binds to the 16S part of the 30S ribosomal subunit and prevents the amino-acyl tRNA from binding to the A site of the ribosome. The binding is reversible in nature. Tetracyclines also have been found to inhibit matrix metalloproteinases. This mechanism does not add to their antibiotic effects, but has led to extensive research on chemically modified tetracyclines or CMTs (like incyclinide) for the treatmet of rosacea, acne, and various types of neoplasms.

Methacycline References