A Critical Review of the Properties of Fusidic Acid and Analytical Methods for Its Determination

ABSTRACT

Fusidic acid, an antibiotic produced from the Fusidium coccineum fungus, belongs to the class of steroids, but has no corticosteroid effects. It is indicated for the treatment of infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains. The aim of this study was to search for the properties of fusidic acid published so far in the literature, as well as the methods developed for its determination in biological samples and pharmaceutical formulations. From the findings, we can conclude that fusidic acid has been used for decades and is indicated for the treatment of serious infections caused by Gram-positive microorganisms to this day. Furthermore, it is a hypoallergenic agent, has low toxicity, shows low resistance, and has no cross-resistance with other clinically used antibiotics. The analytical method of high-performance liquid chromatography has been widely used for determining fusidic acid, since it can reduce the cost and time of analysis, making it more viable for routine quality control in the pharmaceutical industry.

Keywords:

• Analytical methods
• fusidic acid
• quality control
• review

Funding

The authors acknowledge FAPESP (São Paulo, Brazil) for financial support and PADC/FCF/UNESP (São Paulo, Brazil).