Clarithromycin antimicrobial activity

Roxithromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin and dirithromycin are more recently developed macrolides with similar antimicrobial activity to erythromycin. However they are better absorbed, have longer elimination half-lives and lower incidence of gastrointestinal side-effects. Azithromycin and... 

GRAPEFRUIT JUICE ANTIBIOTICS - CLARITHROMYCIN, ERYTHROMYCIN Significant delay in onset of action of clarithromycin (t from 82 to 148 minutes), t plasma concentrations of erythromycin (maximum concentration t, AUC 11,5-fbld) Due to inhibition of absorption attributed to effect on P-gp The interaction is unlikely to cause clinically relevant 1 antimicrobial activity of clarithromycin Telithromycin is unlikely to be affected by grapefruit juice. Be aware... 

Whether these changes in serum clarithromycin concentrations are relevant to its antimicrobial activity is unknown, since prediction of clinical efficacy based on serum concentrations of clarithromycin is probably not justified, given that the macrolides accumulate to a large degree in tissues and macrophages. 

Peters DH, Clissold SP. Clarithromycin. A review of its antimicrobial activity, pharmacokinetic properties and therapeutic potential. Drugs 1992 44(l) 117-64. 

Other macrolide antimicrobials, such as clarithromycin and azithromycin, appear to interact with motilin receptors. Current investigations center on developing motilides that lack antimicrobial activity, thus not disrupting the normal intestinal flora, but have more potent effects on motility. Isolation and purification of motilin receptors will facilitate the development of drugs that have highly specific motilide activity. 

Garrison, M. W., Malone, C. L., Eiland, J., and Anderson, D. E. (1997). Influence of pH on the antimicrobial activity of clarithromycin and 14-hydroxyclarithromycin against Haemophilus influenzae using an in vitro pharmacodynamic model. Diagn. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 27, 139-145. 

Clarithromycin and erythromycin have very similar spectrums of antimicrobial activity. The major advantage of clarithromycin is that it... 

Macrolide antibiotics are a homogeneous group of antimicrobial drugs that have been used to treat clinical infections for several decades. The most clinically useful classification of the macrolides is based on the size of the lactone ring that forms the chemical nucleus of each macrolide molecule [1, 2]. The 14- and 15-membered macrolides include erythromycin, clarithromycin, dirithromycin, roxithromycin, and azithromycin. Erythromycin is the oldest and still the most important of the macrolide antibiotics because it is a useful alternative to penicillin G. It is one of the safest antibiotics available. Clarithromycin and azithromycin have shown some advantages over erythromycin in their antibacterial activity,... 

Currently, azithromycin, clarithromycin, and erythromycin are the most commonly prescribed macrolide antimicrobial agents. The macrolides exhibit bacterio-static/bactericidal activity against a variety of Gram-positive and to a more limited extent Gram-negative pathogens. The pharmacokinetic profiles of the macrolides vary considerably. 

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