colistin

American  

[kuh-lis-tin] / kəˈlɪs tɪn /

noun

Pharmacology.

1. a toxic antibiotic polypeptide, C 45 H 85 O 10 N 13 , produced by the bacterium Bacillus colistinus, used in sulfate form against a broad spectrum of microorganisms and in the treatment of severe gastroenteritis.

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Etymology

Origin of colistin

1950–55; < New Latin colistinus epithet for a variety of Bacillus polymyxa, equivalent to coli- ( see coliform) + -stinus, apparently an arbitrarily chosen suffix; cf. -in ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

colistin

For example, colistin, one of the few gram-negative-only antibiotics approved for clinical use, can cause C. difficile-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis, a potentially life-threatening complication.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2024

County wastewater that were resistant to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2023

Two or three times a day, Molly Pam, a 33-year-old chef and patient advocate in San Francisco, inhales nebulized blasts of colistin or aztreonam.

From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2022

Describe the possible biological consequences of an immediate ban on the use of colistin in agriculture.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

The latest last-ditch antibiotic to start failing is colistin, which was invented in 1959 but shelved because it caused kidney damage.

From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2017