What is the Difference Between Streptomycin and Gentamicin

The key difference between streptomycin and gentamicin is that streptomycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic originally isolated from the bacterium Streptomyces griseus while gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic originally isolated from the bacterium Micromonospora purpurea.

Streptomycin and gentamicin are two different types of aminoglycoside antibiotics. They are traditionally Gram-negative antibacterial medications. Aminoglycoside antibiotics work by inhibiting the protein synthesis of bacteria. Moreover, in their structure, these antibiotics contain amino-modified glycoside sugar. Some well-known examples of aminoglycoside antibiotics include streptomycin, gentamicin kanamycin, tobramycin, neomycin, amikacin, dibekacin, spectinomycin, hygromycin, sisomicin, plazomicin, and paromomycin.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Streptomycin 
3. What is Gentamicin
4. Similarities – Streptomycin and Gentamicin
5. Streptomycin vs Gentamicin in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Streptomycin vs Gentamicin

What is Streptomycin?

Streptomycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic originally isolated from Streptomyces griseus. Streptomycin was the first aminoglycoside antibiotic mainly used for tuberculosis. It was synthetically produced in 1943. Streptomycin was synthesized for the first time in Selman Abraham Waxman’s laboratory at Rutgers University by Albert Schatz. Albert Schatz also discovered another antibiotic called albomycin in 1947. Moreover, Waxman and his colleagues in his laboratory synthesized a number of antibiotics, including actinomycin, clavicin, streptothricin, grisein, and beomycin. Among the above-discovered antibiotics, streptomycin and neomycin have had widespread use against infectious diseases. Waxman was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1952.

This antibiotic works by blocking the growth of bacteria by stopping protein synthesis. Streptomycin normally binds to the 23S ribosomal RNA of the ribosome and prevents the processing of the polypeptide chain or protein. However, the ribosomes of humans are structurally different from bacterial ribosomes. Therefore, streptomycin has no negative effect on the protein synthesis of humans. Furthermore, streptomycin is water soluble and is popularly used in cell cultures. In addition, streptomycin is mainly effective against Gram-negative bacteria, with only some activity against Gram-positive bacteria.

What is Gentamicin?

Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic originally isolated from Micromonospora purpurea. It was originally discovered by Weinstein and Wagman et al., at Schering Corporation in Bloomfield, New Jersey, United States, in 1963 while they were working with soil samples provided by Rico Woyciesjes. Gentamicin can be used for conditions such as bone infections, endocarditis, pelvic inflammatory disease, meningitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, sepsis, etc. However, it is not effective for gonorrhea and Chlamydia infections. Moreover, gentamycin is usually administrated intravenously or intramuscularly through injections. It can also be used as a topical application.

The side effects of gentamicin include inner ear problems and kidney problems. Gentamicin works by disrupting the ability of bacteria to make proteins that kill bacteria. Furthermore, gentamycin is also water-soluble, and in research, it is used to prevent the contamination of sterile cell cultures due to its broad spectrum activity. In addition, gentamycin is also highly stable in high heat and low pH.

What are the Similarities Between Streptomycin and Gentamicin?

• Streptomycin and gentamicin are two different types of aminoglycoside antibiotics.
• Both antibiotics are water-soluble.
• They inhibit the 30S ribosomal subunit of bacteria.
• Moreover, they can be used for a wide range of infectious diseases.
• They can also be used in sterile cell cultures.
• Both antibiotics are broad-spectrum antibiotics.
• They have no negative effect on the ribosome of human cells.
• Both antibiotics can be administrated intravenously or intramuscularly through injections.
• They may have some side effects.

What is the Difference Between Streptomycin and Gentamicin?

Streptomycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that is originally isolated from Streptomyces griseus while gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that is originally isolated from Micromonospora purpurea. Thus, this is the key difference between streptomycin and gentamicin. Furthermore, streptomycin is mainly effective against Gram-negative bacteria, with only some activity against Gram-positive bacteria, while gentamicin is effective against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.

The below infographic presents the differences between streptomycin and gentamicin in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Streptomycin vs Gentamicin

Streptomycin and gentamicin are two different types of aminoglycoside antibiotics. Both these aminoglycoside antibiotics are water soluble and inhibit the 30S ribosomal subunit of bacteria. However, streptomycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that is originally isolated from the bacteria Streptomyces griseus while gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that is originally isolated from the bacteria Micromonospora purpurea. So, this is the key difference between streptomycin and gentamicin.

Reference:

1. “Streptomycin.” Uses, Interactions, Mechanism of Action | DrugBank Online.
2. “Gentamicin Injection: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings & Dosing.” WebMD.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Streptomycin Molecular Structure” By Javentur – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Gentamicin for injection” By LHcheM – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia