Pharmacologic Substance
macrolide Audio
mac·ro·lide
Subclass of:
Polyketides; Lactones
Definitions related to macrolides:
  • A term used to describe a chemical structure of a compound containing a large lactone ring, usually with a 14 or 16-membered ring structure. The prototypical compounds within the macrolide class are the erythromycin-based antibiotics; however, many compounds with this chemical structure are being developed for other diseases.
    NCI Thesaurus
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • A group of often glycosylated macrocyclic compounds formed by chain extension of multiple PROPIONATES cyclized into a large (typically 12, 14, or 16)-membered lactone. Macrolides belong to the POLYKETIDES class of natural products, and many members exhibit ANTIBIOTIC properties.
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
  • Macrolides are antibiotics that are primarily bacteriostatic; by binding to the 50S subunit of the ribosome, they inhibit bacterial protein synthesis.
    Merck Manuals
    Merck & Co., Inc., 2020
  • Macrolide, class of antibiotics characterized by their large lactone ring structures and by their growth-inhibiting (bacteriostatic) effects on bacteria. The macrolides were first discovered in the 1950s, when scientists isolated erythromycin from the soil bacterium Streptomyces erythraeus. In the...
    Encyclopedia Britannica
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2020
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