A Review on Tigecycline: Its Usage, Mechanism of Action, and Clinical Efficacy

Abstract

Tigecycline is the first drug in the glycylcycline antimicrobial structurally related to minocycline. This antibiotic marketed by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals under the brand name Tygacil. Tigecycline has a broad spectrum of activity against drug-resistant Gram-positive, Gram-negative, aerobic, and atypical bacterial species including bacterial isolates resistant to beta-lactams and fluoroquinolones. Tigecycline is concentrated in cells and is eliminated primarily via biliary excretion. Diminished renal function does not significantly alter its systemic clearance. Trials of tigecycline have shown its efficacy for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections, complicated intra-abdominal infections, and community-acquired bacterial pneumonia in adults. 50 mg intravenous dose of tigecycline at every 12 hours showed adverse conditions like nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea that may lead discontinuation of tigecycline use in therapy. The overuse of antibiotics in humans as well as in animals has given rise to a condition which is known as antibiotic resistance.