Gentamicin is a more effective in vitro bacterial inhibitor than the combination of erythromycin and streptomycin. It is non-toxic to tissue cultured monolayer cells and does not inhibit virus replication.
Gentamicin has been successfully used as an additive in commercial fungal culture media to inhibit bacterial growth, and has been shown to have bactericidal effects on a wider range of microorganisms than erythromycin and streptomycin, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus, and Streptococcus faecalis.
Gentamicin does not interfere with the cytopathic effects of certain enteroviruses and poliovirus in tissue culture, is non-toxic to rhesus monkey kidney cells, HeLa cells, and human membrane cells, and is stable under high-pressure sterilization.