What is the Difference Between Penicillin G and Penicillin V

The key difference between penicillin G and penicillin V is that penicillin G is highly active against infections, whereas penicillin V is comparatively less active.

Both penicillin G and penicillin V are derivatives of penicillin drugs. These drugs are useful in treating bacterial infections.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Penicillin G 
3. What is Penicillin V
4. Penicillin G vs Penicillin V  in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Penicillin G vs Penicillin V

What is Penicillin G?

Penicillin G is benzylpenicillin. It is also named BENPEN. It is an antibiotic that is useful in treating a number of bacterial infections such as pneumonia, strep throat, syphilis, necrotizing enterocolitis, diphtheria, and gas gangrene. This drug is administrated through an injection into a vein or muscle. The chemical formula of penicillin G is C16H18N2O4S. It has about 334 g/mol molar mass.

There can be some side effects of penicillin G, including diarrhoea, seizures, and allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis. The protein binding ability of this drug is about 60%. The metabolism of this compound occurs in the liver, and the excretion occurs in the kidney. The elimination half-life of penicillin G is about 30 minutes. When considering its antibiotic effects, it is mainly effective against Gram-positive organisms and against some Gram-negative organisms as well.

The production of penicillin G involves several steps, including fermentation, recovery, and purification of penicillin. During fermentation, the presence of the product in the solution can inhibit the reaction rate and yield; therefore, the product has to be continuously extracted. We can do it by mixing the mixture with glucose (or a similar sugar compound) and some small amounts of inorganic salts. We can use several methods in the recovery step of this drug; these include aqueous-two phase extraction, liquid membrane extraction, microfiltration, and solvent extraction. The final step is the purification step, where the penicillin G is separated from the extraction solution, which is performed through a separation column method.

What is Penicillin V?

Penicillin V is phenoxymethylpenicillin, which is also named penicillin VK or PcV. It is an antibiotic that is useful in treating a number of bacterial infections, including strep throat, otitis media, and cellulitis. Moreover, this drug is important in preventing rheumatic fever and infections following the removal of the spleen.

The common side effects of this drug include diarrhoea, nausea, and some allergy reactions. The major route of administration for this drug is oral administration. The protein binding ability of this drug is about 80%, and the metabolism occurs in the liver. The excretion of penicillin V occurs in the kidney. The elimination half-life of penicillin V can range from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. The chemical formula of penicillin V is C16H18N2O5S.

What is the Difference Between Penicillin G and Penicillin V?

Both penicillin G and penicillin V are derivatives of penicillin drugs. These drugs are useful in treating bacterial infections. The key difference between penicillin G and penicillin V is that penicillin G is highly active against infections, whereas penicillin V is comparatively less active. Both penicillin G and penicillin V are antibiotics, but they are useful in treating different diseases. Penicillin G is useful in treating bacterial infections such as pneumonia, strep throat, syphilis, necrotizing enterocolitis, diphtheria, gas gangrene, etc., whereas Penicillin V is useful in treating a number of bacterial infections, including strep throat, otitis media, and cellulitis.

The below infographic lists the differences between penicillin G and penicillin V in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Penicillin G vs Penicillin V

Both penicillin G and penicillin V are derivatives of penicillin drugs. These drugs are useful in treating bacterial infections. The key difference between penicillin G and penicillin V is that penicillin G is highly active against infections, whereas penicillin V is comparatively less active.

Reference:

1. “Penicillin g.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Benzylpenicillin” By Vaccinationist – Own work, based on PubChem (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Penicillin-V-2D-skeletal” By Benjah-bmm27 – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia