Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is a dimeric enzyme in which each subunit of the enzyme has a Zn 2+ metal-containing catalytic domain and a cofactor-binding domain. This enzyme converts the alcohol to aldehyde. The present article focuses on the purification, characterization and in vitro effects of some antibiotics on alcohol dehydrogenase from sheep liver. ADH was purified with specific activity of 0.5 U/mg proteins and approximately 52.03-fold from sheep liver by DEAE-Sephadex A-50 ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. The subunit and the natural molecular weights of the enzyme were determined by gel filtration and SDS-PAGE 80.49 and 38.16 kDa, respectively. The optimum ionic strenght, temperature and, pH of ADH was 400 mM, 40°C and, 10.5, respectively. The inhibitory effects of the antibiotics were tested at various concentrations. IC 50 values for kanamycin sulfate, amikacin sulfate, gentamicin, lincomycin, and clindamycin were found to be 43. 31, 36.47, 20.38, 18.73 and 1.31 mM, respectively.