Antibiotics of the virginiamycin family, inhibitors which contain synergistic components

Abstract

The study of synergistic effects among antibiotics is an interesting development of the branch of biological sciences which deals with inhibitors of cell growth and multiplication. Within this domain, the antibiotics of the virginiamycin family have captivated the interest of scientists and physicians because of their unique features. The crude product obtained by the producing organisms, a group of streptomycetes, contains several components which display a synergistic inhibitory effect in sensitive cells. Numerous virginiamycin-like antibiotics have been obtained in laboratories of different countries and, in fact, most of the leading pharmaceutical industries have patented products of this kind. The main commercial preparations and their sources are reported. In spite of the large number of preparations available, however, virginiamycin-like antibiotics represent a very small and homogeneous group of drugs. Two basic chemical structures, are shared by the components of all known inhibitors of this family; various products differ only in minor functional groups. The aim of the present review article is to report basic data and recent findings concerning the structure and the mechanisms of action of virginiamycin-like antibiotics. Main results in the field will be summarized, and theories explaining the synergistic effect of the components will be discussed.