Psicofuranine

Abstract

Psicofuranine (Fig. 1) is an antibiotic which was first described by SCHROEDER and Hoeksema (1959) and Eble et al. (1959). The compound closely resembles angustmycin C described by Yüntsen (1958). It is produced in fermentation by Streptomyces hygroscopicus var. decoyicus. The taxonomy and the fermentation conditions were reported by Vavra et al. (1959); in vivo antibacterial activity was studied by Lewis et al. (1959)- It protected mice from experimental infections with Streptococcus haemolyticus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichiacoli when administered orally or subcutaneously. However, psicofuranine showed essentially no in vitro activity against the same microorganism when tested on conventional media. In vitro activity was demonstrated using special media and assay techniques described by Hanka et al. (1959, 1960). A method for chemical determination of psicofuranine in blood plasma and serum was reported by FORIST et al. (1959). Psicofuranine was not inhibitory to the KB cells in tissue culture. Pharmacologic studies including the absorption and excretion of psicofuranine in the dog were done by Wallach and Thomas (1959), who reported that psicofuranine was absorbed following oral and intramuscular administration. Most of the drug was excreted through the kidney; biliary excretion was negligible. Free psicofuranine was absorbed in animals but not in man. In the form of psicofuranine tetraacetate it was absorbed in man, however.