Baytril

Generic name: enrofloxacin
Dosage form: FOR ANIMAL USE ONLY

CAUTION:

Federal (U.S.A.) law restricts this drug to use by or on the order of a licensed veterinarian.

Federal law prohibits the extralabel use of this drug in food-producing animals.

DESCRIPTION:

Enrofloxacin is a synthetic chemotherapeutic agent from the class of the quinolone carboxylic acid derivatives. It has antibacterial activity against a broad spectrum of Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria (See Tables I and II). It is rapidly absorbed from the digestive tract, penetrating into all measured body tissues and fluids (See Table III).

Tablets are available in two sizes (22.7 and 68.0 mg enrofloxacin).

CHEMICAL NOMENCLATURE AND STRUCTURAL FORMULA:

1-cyclopropyl-7-(4-ethyl-1-piperazinyl)-6-fluoro-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-3-quinolinecarboxylic acid.

ACTIONS:

Microbiology:

Quinolone carboxylic acid derivatives are classified as DNA gyrase inhibitors. The mechanism of action of these compounds is very complex and not yet fully understood. The site of action is bacterial gyrase, a synthesis promoting enzyme. The effect on Escherichia coli is the inhibition of DNA synthesis through prevention of DNA supercoiling. Among other things, such compounds lead to the cessation of cell respiration and division. They may also interrupt bacterial membrane integrity.1

Enrofloxacin is bactericidal, with activity against both Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined for a series of 39 isolates representing 9 genera of bacteria from natural infections in dogs and cats, selected principally because of resistance to one or more of the following antibiotics: ampicillin, cephalothin, colistin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, penicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline, triple sulfa and sulfa/trimethoprim. The MIC values for enrofloxacin against these isolates are presented in Table I. Most strains of these organisms were found to be susceptible to enrofloxacin in vitro but the clinical significance has not been determined for some of the isolates.

The susceptibility of organisms to enrofloxacin sh...