Fosfomycin
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| Clinical data | |
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| Routes of administration | Oral |
| ATC code | |
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| Pharmacokinetic data | |
| Bioavailability | 30–37% (oral, fosfomycin tromethamine); varies with food intake |
| Protein binding | Nil |
| Metabolism | Nil |
| Elimination half-life | 5.7 hours (mean) |
| Excretion | Renal and fecal, unchanged |
| Identifiers | |
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| CAS Number |
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| PubChem CID | |
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| CompTox Dashboard (EPA) | |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.041.315 |
| Chemical and physical data | |
| Formula | C3H7O4P |
| Molar mass | 138.059 g/mol g·mol−1 |
Fosfomycin (also known as phosphomycin and phosphonomycin) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic produced by certain Streptomyces species.
Fosfomycin is indicated in the treatment of urinary tract infections, where it is usually administered as a single dose. Development of bacterial resistance under therapy is a frequent occurrence and makes fosfomycin unsuitable for sustained therapy of severe infections.
Mechanism of action
Fosfomycin is an antimetabolite of phosphoenolpyruvate in the enzymatic synthesis of muramic acid, a component of the bacterial cell wall glycopeptide murein. The epoxide ring of fosfomycin covalently reacts with a cysteine residue in the enzyme's active site, which results in the enzyme's irreversible inactivation.
Fosfomycin enters the bacterial cell through the glycerophosphate transporter. Mutations that inactivate this non-essential transport protein render bacteria resistant to fosfomycin.