Medical uses and spectrum of activity
- Treatment of acne
- Treatment of cholera
- Treatment of brucellosis
- Treatment of plague
- Treatment of malaria
- Broad spectrum of antibiotic action
- Bacteriostatic activity against aerobic and anaerobic bacteria
- Exceptions: Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus spp.
- Acquired resistance in many pathogenic organisms
- Useful in managing infections by certain intracellular bacterial pathogens

Anti-eukaryote use
- Activity against certain eukaryotic parasites
- Effective against dysentery caused by an amoeba
- Effective against malaria caused by a plasmodium
- Effective against balantidiasis caused by a ciliate

Use as a biomarker
- Tetracycline hydrochloride used as a marker of bone growth in humans
- Incorporated into mineralizing bone and detected by fluorescence
- Double tetracycline labeling used to measure bone growth
- Used as a biomarker in wildlife to detect consumption of medicine-containing baits

Side effects
- Discoloration of permanent teeth, especially in children
- Inactivation by calcium, aluminum, iron, and zinc ions
- Skin photosensitivity
- Drug-induced lupus and hepatitis
- Breathing complications and anaphylactic shock in some individuals

History and society
- Tetracyclines discovered by Benjamin Minge Duggar in 1948
- Tetracycline antibiotic, chlortetracycline (Aureomycin), discovered in 1945
- Structure of Aureomycin elucidated in 1952 and published in 1954
- Tetracycline received FDA approval in 1954
- Tetracycline can be identified in bones using ultraviolet light
- Nubian mummies from 350-550 A.D. showed patterns of fluorescence similar to modern tetracycline-labeled bone
- Price of tetracycline in the USA rose significantly from 2013 to 2015
- Tetracycline marketed under various brand names
- Tetracycline used in genetic engineering and research