[Mechanism of polyene antibiotic inactivation. The effect of amino sugar oxidation on polyene chain destruction]

Changes in the acid-base characteristics of levorin during its inactivation are discussed. It is shown that with a decrease in the biological activity a change in the basic characteristics of the levorin amino sugar moiety takes place. The kinetic studies with model compounds, i. e. octaenic alcohol and glucosamine showed that the processes of their oxidation were interrelated. Oxidation of the amino sugar played the role of an inducing factor in oxidation of the polyenic chromophore and in addition impaired correlation between the extinction specific coefficient of levorin and its biological activity.