Amikacin offers definite advantages for treating infections caused by organisms resistant to other aminoglycosides. Amikaci is affected by relatively few arninoglycoside-modifying enzymes. Amikacin is useful in the treatment of infections caused by
Nocardia asteroides
,
Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare
, and certain species of "rapid-growing" mycobacteria (that is,
M. chelonae
and
M. fortuitumi
).
Amikacin (100-1500 μM) causes a reliable dose-dependent loss of lateral line zebrafish hair cells with a LD
50
value of 453 μM.
Amikacin (320 mg/kg; subcutaneous injection; daily; for 10 days; male Fischer rats) treatment increases the chance of serious hearing loss in rats in vivo.
