Clavulanic acid

Clavulanic acid
Clinical data
Pronunciation/ˌklævjʊˈlænɪk/
Other namesRX-10100; Serdaxin; Zoraxel
AHFS/Drugs.comInternational Drug Names
Pregnancy
category
  • AU: B1
Routes of
administration
Oral, IV
ATC code
Legal status
Legal status
  • AU: S4 (Prescription only)
  • In general: ℞ (Prescription only)
Pharmacokinetic data
BioavailabilityOral: 45–64%[1]
MetabolismUnknown[1]
Elimination half-life0.8–1.2 hours[1]
ExcretionUrine: 35–44% (unchanged)[1]
Identifiers
  • (2R,5R,Z)-3-(2-Hydroxyethylidene)-7-oxo-4-oxa-1-aza-bicyclo[3.2.0]heptane-2-carboxylic acid
CAS Number
PubChem CID
DrugBank
ChemSpider
UNII
KEGG
ChEBI
ChEMBL
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)
ECHA InfoCard100.055.500 Edit this at Wikidata
Chemical and physical data
FormulaC8H9NO5
Molar mass199.162 g·mol−1
3D model (JSmol)
  • O=C2N1[C@H](C(/O[C@@H]1C2)=C/CO)C(=O)O
  • InChI=1S/C8H9NO5/c10-2-1-4-7(8(12)13)9-5(11)3-6(9)14-4/h1,6-7,10H,2-3H2,(H,12,13)/b4-1-/t6-,7-/m1/s1 checkY
  • Key:HZZVJAQRINQKSD-PBFISZAISA-N checkY
  (verify)

Clavulanic acid is a β-lactam drug that functions as a mechanism-based β-lactamase inhibitor. While not effective by itself as an antibiotic, when combined with penicillin-group antibiotics, it can overcome antibiotic resistance in bacteria that secrete β-lactamase, which otherwise inactivates most penicillins.

In its most common preparations, potassium clavulanate (clavulanic acid as a salt of potassium) is combined with:

Clavulanic acid was patented in 1974.[2] In addition to its β-lactamase inhibition, clavulanic acid shows off-target activity in the nervous system by upregulating the glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1) and has been studied in the potential treatment of a variety of central nervous system disorders.[1][3]

  1. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference Balcazar-OchoaVentura-MartínezÁngeles-López2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Fischer J, Ganellin CR (2006). Analogue-based Drug Discovery. John Wiley & Sons. p. 490. ISBN 9783527607495.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference AdisInsight was invoked but never defined (see the help page).