Super-compact treatment with a high dose of moxifloxacin in patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis and its resistance mechanisms

The aim of this study was to investigate the curative effect and resistance mechanisms of high-dose moxifloxacin in the short-term treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. A total of 92 patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis were randomly selected and divided into groups A and B (n=46 per group). The two groups received moxifloxacin treatment with the same dose in total. Group A received a short course of treatment with moxifloxacin (0.6 g/day for 6 months), whereas group B received normal moxifloxacin treatment (0.4 g/day for 9 months). Sputum negative conversion, foci absorption, cavity closure and adverse reactions in the two groups were observed, and the drug resistance mechanism of tuberculosis to moxifloxacin treatment was investigated. Following the treatment, the curative rate of group A was 82.61%, and the curative rate of group B was 84.78%; there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). The rates of sputum negative conversion, foci absorption and cavity closure were not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05). However, the rates of reduction in peripheral white blood cell counts, liver function damage and adverse reactions, including symptoms affecting the gastrointestinal and nervous systems, were significantly lower in group A than in group B (P<0.05). The expression levels of the antigen-presenting functional molecules CD80 and CD40 on the surfaces of mononuclear cells were higher in group A than in group B (P<0.05), whereas the difference in HLA-DR expression between groups A and B was not significant (P>0.05). In conclusion, short-term treatment with a high dose of moxifloxacin is effective for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, and its advantages are a reduction in the incidence of drug-associated adverse reactions and a lack of drug resistance.