Revision of treatment regimens in Malawi Table 1 shows the regimens used in Malawi for new cases of TB. Having used thiacetazone for approximately 12 years, the Malawi National TB Programme removed it from its essential drug list in January 1997 and substituted ethambutol. Most paediatric cases of TB fall into the category of smear negative pulmonary TB. The proposed new regimen consists of a t...

BACKGROUND Early-phase and preclinical studies suggest that moxifloxacin-containing regimens could allow for effective 4-month treatment of uncomplicated, smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. METHODS We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial to test the noninferiority of two moxifloxacin-containing regimens as compared with a control regimen. One group of pa...

Thirty clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, 20 of which were multidrug-resistant (MDR), were tested for susceptibility to different combinations of amoxycillin, clavulanic acid and subinhibitory concentrations of ethambutol. beta-Lactamase production was assessed semiquantitatively with the nitrocefin method and susceptibility testing was performed with the BACTEC method. All isolat...

We tested the activity of the new fluoroquinolone sparfloxacin (CI-978; AT 4140) against 30 strains of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) isolated from patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome. MICs of sparfloxacin (range, less than or equal to 0.06 to 4 micrograms/ml) were lower than MICs of ciprofloxacin for all 30 strains, and MBCs for acid-fast bacteria were lower for 28 of the 30 s...

The aim of this study was to investigate pharmacodynamic (PD) interactions in mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis using population pharmacokinetics (PKs), the Multistate Tuberculosis Pharmacometric (MTP) model, and the General Pharmacodynamic Interaction (GPDI) model. Rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol, or pyrazinamide were administered in monotherapy for 4 weeks. Rifampicin and isonia...

BACKGROUND Linezolid, an oxazolidinone, substantially improves treatment outcomes of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis. We started a trial to test whether the use of linezolid instead of ethambutol could increase the rate of sputum culture conversion as of 8 weeks of treatment in patients with drug-susceptible tuberculosis. METHODS/DESIGN This is a p...

We conducted a prospective study of 18 adult volunteers (male-to-female ratio of 1) whose body mass index fell into categories of <25, 25 to 40, or >40 kg/m(2), who received a single oral dose of 1,600 mg ethambutol. Only individuals with normal renal function were recruited. The minimum body mass (M) was 45.6 kg, the median was 90.8 kg, and the maximum weight was 160.4 kg. Ethambutol pharmacok...

Forbes, M. (Lederle Laboratories Division, Pearl River, N.Y.), N. A. Kuck, and E. A. Peets. Effect of ethambutol on nucleic acid metabolism in Mycobacterium smegmatis and its reversal by polyamines and divalent cations. J. Bacteriol. 89:1299-1305. 1965.-Mycobacterium smegmatis, harvested from cultures inhibited by ethambutol and then suspended in drug-free medium, exhibited a prolonged lag befo...

The rise of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis has complicated therapy for tuberculosis and led us to search for a potentially active combination of drugs against these strains. The susceptibilities of 12 strains of multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis to standard antituberculous drugs (isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide), clarithromycin, and its metabolite, 14-hydroxy...

The susceptibility of 115 Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex clinical isolates to isoniazid, streptomycin, ethambutol, and rifampin was assessed by the MB/BacT and BACTEC 460TB systems. The correlation between the two tests was 98.3% for isoniazid, 100% for streptomycin and rifampin, and 95.8% for ethambutol. Turnaround times for antimicrobial susceptibility testing ranged from 5 to 11 days (me...