EFFECTS OF ANTIBIOTIC SUBSTANCES ON THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

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Abstract
THERE HAS been a singular dearth of experimental studies on the effects of penicillin and other antibiotic substances on the physiologic processes of the nervous system. The lack of clinical evidence of neural toxicity when penicillin is administered systemically or intrathecally is astonishing when the antibacterial potency of the drug is considered. However, the observation of convulsive manifestations following intraventricular administration1 led to a study of the effects of antibiotic substances on the nervous system. This report concerns the neuropharmacodynamics of penicillin,1 streptomycin, clavacin, actinomycin and streptothricin. An attempt was made to test the effects of aspergillic acid on the brain, but its relative insolubility in water made the experiment unsatisfactory. PENICILLIN2 Penicillin, one of the antibiotic principles obtained from Penicillium notatum, is the best known and one of the most powerful of the bactericidal substances of microbial origin. When administered systemically it apparently does not reach