title: [Vancomycin in 1991: current status and perspectives].
abstract: Vancomycin is a narrow-spectrum glycopeptide antibiotic which is primarily active against Gram-positive organisms. Bacterial resistance develops rarely due to its numerous modes of action. The mode of action of vancomycin involves the inhibition of peptidoglycan synthesis. Vancomycin forms a stoichiometric complex with the peptidoglycan precursor UDP-N-acetylmuramyl pentapeptide by forming hydrogen bonds. In patients with renal insufficiency vancomycin clearance is reduced and elimination half-life prolonged. Vancomycin is the drug of choice in the treatment of methicillin-resistant staphylococcal infections and in the treatment of Gram-positive endocarditis and has been used as alternative therapy in the treatment or prophylaxis of Gram-positive infections in penicillin-allergic patients.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Bactériologie, Hôpital Robert Debré, Paris, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casetta
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bingen
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lambert-Zechovsky
mesh_terms: D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000187:drug effects; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000187:drug effects; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D010457:Peptidoglycan; D014640:Vancomycin
vernacular_title: La vancomycine en 1991: actualité et perspectives.