Tigecycline: a new treatment option for intra-abdominal infections

Tigecycline is the first of a new class of antibiotics, the glycylcyclines, with properties which can overcome many common resistance mechanisms, making it appropriate for treatment of many serious and life-threatening infections for which other antibiotics are no longer appropriate. its wide antibacterial spectrum includes most methicillin-resistant staphylococci, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, ESBL-producing and other multi-resistant Gram-negative bacteria such as Acinetobacter and Stenotrophomonas spp. it is also active against anaerobes and atypical pathogens. Tigecycline is available only as parenteral formulation. it has a high volume of distribution (>10 L/kg) and long half-life (36 h). It is approved in the USA and europe for treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infections and complicated communityacquired intra-abdominal infections. Phase II studies for treatment of community- and nosocomial-acquired pneumonia and sepsis due to multidrug resistant pathogens are ongoing.