Tiamutin safety

Tiamutin is not used in human medicine so there is no fear of cross-resistance with human antibiotics unlike the fluoroquinolones, macrolides, lincomycin or tetracyclines.

Tiamutin is an antibiotic of the pleuromutilin family and is not related to other antibiotics, such as the macrolides (tylosin, kitasamycin, erythromycin, josamycin and spiramycin), or the tetracyclines and there is no cross resistance between the families. Due to its lack of cross resistance Tiamutin has been shown to be active against tylosin-resistant strains [?], [?] from Germany and Middle East (see table below).
 

 

Tiamutin® (tiamulin) sensitivity to tylosin–resistant strains of M. gallisepticum
	MIC (µg/ml)
Tylosin Tiamutin German strains (7) 0.6 - 10.0 0.05 - 0.1 Middle East strains (11) 0.5 - 10.0 0.025 0.25

Toxicity studies have shown Tiamutin is well tolerated in chickens. The LD₅ (where 5% mortality occurs) for chickens is 1090 mg/kg bodyweight (44 times preventive dose) and for turkeys 840 mg/kg (28 times preventive dose). It is well distributed throughout body tissues and is metabolised and excreted primarily via the liver and kidneys.