Chlorampenicol

• Chloramphenicol works by inhibiting peptidyl transferase, thus preventing peptide bond formation
• Chloramphenicol is a broad-spectrum bacteriostatic medication.
• Chloramphenicol is well absorbed both perorally + parenterally, and it readily crosses the BBB so it could be used to treat bacterial meningitis.
• Resistance to chloramphenicol occurs through acetyltransferase enzymes, which add an acetyl group to chloramphenicol to inactivate it.
• Chloramphenicol is effective against some strains of Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis, Bacteroides species, and Rickettsia species.
• Chloramphenicol is used in the form of eye ointments to treat bacterial conjunctivitis.
• Chloramphenicol side effects include

  • bone marrow suppression
  • aplastic anemia
  • teratogenic -> grey baby syndrome
• Chloramphenicol readily crosses the placenta.
• Gray baby syndrome is where the infant is anemic and cyanotic, where the skin is a pale, or greyish colour, and it can lead to cardiovascular collapse.
• Chloramphenicol also inhibits the hepatic enzymes in the cytochrome p450 family, which causes an increase in the action of drugs like warfarin.