- Sep 23, 2014
- 2,176
- 353
- 208
So here's some of the stuff from the Wikipedia article (not that it's an infallible source, I try to cross-check references when I get stuff there), but I have no reason to necessarily question this. But again, I don't know how it affects birds. I assume it is no more soluble in their intestines than humans, though. I don't know if you would get tissue damage at the injection site, which I seem to recall is a common side effect of some injected antibiotics in peas?
Clips from wiki:
Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic composed of a mixture of related gentamicin components and fractions and is used to treat many types of bacterial infections, particularly those caused by Gram-negative organisms.[1] However, gentamicin is not used for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis or Legionella pneumophila. Gentamicin is also ototoxic and nephrotoxic, with this toxicity remaining a major problem in clinical use.[1]
Like all aminoglycosides, when gentamicin is given orally, it is not systemically active. This is because it is not absorbed to any appreciable extent from the small intestine. It is administered intravenously, intramuscularly or topically to treat infections. It appears to be completely eliminated unchanged in the urine. Urine must be collected for many days to recover all of a given dose because the drug binds avidly to certain tissues.
Medical uses
Active against a wide range of human bacterial infections, mostly Gram-negative bacteria including Pseudomonas, Proteus, Serratia, and the Gram-positive Staphylococcus.[4] Gentamicin is not used for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis or Legionella pneumophila bacterial infections (because of the risk of the patient going into shock from lipid A endotoxin found in certain Gram-negative organisms). Gentamicin is also useful against Yersinia pestis, its relatives, and Francisella tularensis (the organism responsible for Tularemia seen often in hunters and/or trappers).[5] Some Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas spp., enterococci, Staphylococcus aureus and other staphylococci are resistant to Gentamicin Sulfate, USP to varying degrees.[6]
Side effects
These aminoglycosides are toxic to the sensory cells of the ear, but they vary greatly in their relative effects on hearing versus balance. Gentamicin is a vestibulotoxin, and can cause permanent loss of equilibrioception, caused by damage to the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear, usually if taken at high doses or for prolonged periods of time, but there are well documented cases in which gentamicin completely destroyed the vestibular apparatus after three to five days.[citation needed] A small number of affected individuals have a normally harmless mutation in their mitochondrial DNA encoding the 12S ribosomal RNA (m.1555 A>G), that allows the gentamicin to affect their cells.[7] The cells of the ear are particularly sensitive to this, sometimes causing complete hearing loss.[8] However, gentamicin is sometimes used intentionally for this purpose in severe Ménière's disease, to disable the vestibular apparatus. These side effects are most common when the drug is administered via drops directly to the ear.
Gentamicin can also be highly nephrotoxic, particularly if multiple doses accumulate over a course of treatment. For this reason gentamicin is usually dosed by ideal body weight. Various formulae exist for calculating gentamicin dosage. Also trough and peak serum levels of gentamicin are monitored during treatment, generally before and after the third dose is infused.
Gentamicin, like other aminoglycosides, causes nephrotoxicity by inhibiting protein synthesis in renal cells. This mechanism specifically causes necrosis of cells in the proximal tubule, resulting in acute tubular necrosis which can lead to acute renal failure.[9]
Side effects of gentamicin toxicity vary from patient to patient. Side effects may become apparent shortly after or up to months after gentamicin is administered. Symptoms of gentamicin toxicity include:
- Balance difficulty
- Bouncing, unsteady vision
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- Difficulty multi-tasking, particularly when standing
A number of factors and determinants should be taken into account when using gentamicin, including differentiation between empirical and directed therapy which will affect dosage and treatment period.[1] Many medical practitioners freely administer gentamicin as an antibiotic without advising patients of the severe and permanent potential ramifications of its use. Gentamicin is well known to be a cheap, low-cost yet old medicine when compared with modern alternatives, and is typically US$3–6 per dosage less than modern alternatives.
Many people recover from gentamicin toxicity naturally over time if the drug is discontinued, but they recover slowly and usually incompletely.[citation needed] Sometimes the toxicity of gentamicin can still increase over months after the last dose. Upon cessation of gentamicin therapy symptoms such as tinnitus and imbalance may become less pronounced. Sensori-neural hearing loss caused by gentamicin toxicity is permanent however.
Okay, back to me... this sounds too dangerous for me to experiment with (it sounds like monitoring with lab testing is necessary to administer it safely), and definitely something I would not want to try without a vet running the show. And I don't know what the safety and efficacy is in peas... I would want to do a lot more digging. And I don't think I particularly want the doc using this one on me unless I happen to catch the plague
