Pyocyanase was the first

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...

drug to be used in hospitals. It is no longer used today.

Rudolph Emmerich Dr. Rudolph (Rudolf) Emmerich (29 September 1856– 15 November 1914) was a German bacteriologist noted for his advances against cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. S ...

and Oscar Löw, two

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

physicians who were the first to make an effective medication from microbes, conducted experiments in the 1890s, roughly 30 years after

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...

showed that many diseases were caused by bacteria and nearly 40 years before the effective prescription of

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...

. They proved that the germs that caused one disease may be the cure for another. Emmerich and Löw isolated germs from infected bandages that caused green infections in open wounds. The germ was a bacterium then called ''Bacillus pyocyaneus'' (now called ''

Pseudomonas aeruginosa ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'' is a common encapsulated, gram-negative, aerobic–facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium that can cause disease in plants and animals, including humans. A species of considerable medical importance, ''P. aerugi ...

'', it produces pyocyanin, a characteristic green-blue phenazine pigment). They then mixed the isolate with other bacteria and showed that ''B. pyocyaneus'' and extracts from its cultures were able to destroy other strains of bacteria. Among the bacteria that it killed were those that caused

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...

, and

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

. From these experiments Emmerich and Löw created a medication based on extracts of ''B. pyocyaneus'' that they called pyocyanase. It was the first antibiotic to be used in hospitals. Unfortunately, its effectiveness was sporadic, did not work equally on all patients, and the presence of large amounts of phenazines such as pyocyanin made it quite toxic to humans. As a result, the drug was eventually abandoned.

References

{{Reflist Antibiotics History of pharmacy

See also

References