Daptomycin

Daptomycin is a natural antibiotic used to treat gram-positive bacterial infections. A unique mechanism of action has allowed low rates of bacterial cross-resistance to daptomycin, making it an effective treatment to severe infection such as Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) and Methicillin-reistant Staphlococcus aureus (MRSA).

 Nomenclature and structure 
Daptomycin is also commonly referred to as Cubicin or abbreviated to DAP.  It is a lipopeptide, meaning that it is made of a combination of fatty acids and protein complexes. Daptomycin is biosynthetic, first extracted from Streptomyces roseosporus.

 Medicine 
Daptomycin is used to treat the following medical conditions:

 right-handed myocarditis infection
 complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSIs)
 meningitis
 bacteraemia 
 sepsis
 urinary tract infection

 Mechanism of action 
Daptomycin kills gram-positive bacteria by changing the structure of the cell membrane. Daptomycin enters the bacterial cell membrane by chemical exchange with calcium ions and phospholipid phosphatidylglycerol (PG).

 References 

Category:Antibiotics