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Polymyxins are cationic detergent antibiotics, with a general structure of a cyclic peptide with a long hydrophobic tail. They disrupt the structure of the bacterial cell membrane by interacting with its phospholipids. Polymyxins have a bactericidal effect on Gram-negative bacilli, especially on pseudomonas and coliform organisms. Polymyxin antibiotics are highly neurotoxic and nephrotoxic, and very poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract.
Well known examples:
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