Methicillin is an antibiotic related to penicillin and other beta-lactam containing antibiotics. It is often used to treat infections caused by bacteria carrying an antibiotic resistance, e.g., staphylococci. As methicillin is deactivated by gastric acid, it has to be administered by injection.
Uses
Methicillin is not commonly used in clinical practice, but serves a purpose in the laboratory to determine antibiotic sensitivity in microbiological culture.
"Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus" (MRSA) is a strain of staphylococcus that is resistant to methicillin and related compounds.
External links
- ChemBank entry (http://chembank.med.harvard.edu/bioactives/display.html?compound_id=762)
