Chemotherapeutic Action of Various Forms of Penicillin on Hemolytic Streptococcal Infections in Mice.

Cytochemical Interpretation of the Mechanism of Penicillin Action 1

“…Laboratory experiments with animals, and clinical trials and evaluations have shown that the relative effectiveness of the different penicillins in vivo depends upon the rate of excretion, degree of protein-binding in the blood, the pathogen involved, and several other factors. In practice, benzyl penicillin (penicillin G) has been found to be the most generally useful (38,59,60,61,99,101,166).…”

Serum Binding, Distribution and Excretion of Four Penicillin Analogues Following Intravenous Injection in Man.

“…Furthermore, it is reasonable to expect that a drug which is highly bound to plasma proteins will tend to be retained to a greater extent in the intravascalar compartment than one which is highly diffusable, thereby achieving higher serum concentrations, (assuming all other factors governing distribution to be equal). In certain cases, excessive serum protein binding has rendered useless otherwise promising antibiotics ( 1,2) ; serum protein binding has been shown to be of considerable importance in the pharmacology of sulfonamides (3), the penicillins ( 1, 2,4,5) and tetracyclines ( 6,7,8).…”

The Enhancement of the Chemotherapeutic Action of Penicillin

“…It is a well-recognized fact that early amorphous penicillin contained varying proportions of penicillins X, G, dihydro-F, F, and K. It is, furthermore, recognized that impure penicillin contains varying amounts of the degradation products of these penicillins. That impure penicillin possesses greater chemotherapeutic action than crystalline penicillin G against certain experimental infections has been discussed in detail elsewhere (Hobby et al, 1946(Hobby et al, , 1947. The present report is incomplete in that only a portion of the penicillin degradation products have been tested.…”

“…In a previous communication (Hobby et al, 1946), the possible effect of impurities on the chemotherapeutic action of penicillin was discussed in detail. The data presented were preliminary in nature; neither the nature of the enhancing substance present in impure penicillin nor the mechanism by which it acts was determined.…”