EARLY BACTERICIDAL AND STERILIZING ACTIVITIES OF CIPROFLOXACIN IN PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS

The early bactericidal and sterilizing activities of ciprofloxacin wer e evaluated in the treatment of adult patients with smear positive pul monary tuberculosis. Two randomized prospective studies were performed in Northern Tanzania. In study 1, ten patients received either 750 mg ciprofloxacin or 300 ng isoniazid daily for 7 days. Counts of colony- forming units (cfu) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in early morning spu tum were performed. In study 2, twenty patients received either a stan dard regimen of rifampin (R), isoniazid (H), pyrazinamide (Z), and eth ambutol (E) (regimen HRZE) or a trial regimen of ciprofloxacin (C), is oniazid (H), and rifampin (R) (regimen HRC). Sputum colony counts were performed for 8 wk. Patients were tested for antibodies to human immu nodeficiency virus (HIV)-1. The results demonstrate that ciprofloxacin alone has useful early bactericidal activity, resulting in a mean dai ly fall of 0.20 log(10)cfu/ml/day during 7 days compared with 0.25 log (10)cfu/ml/day for isoniazid. When HRZE and HRC regimens were compared , the HRC regimen appeared to be inferior in its sterilizing ability, with a culture conversion rate of 67% at 2 months compared with 100% f or HRZE. The difference in outcome was most marked in HIV-1 positive p atients. The role of ciprofloxacin in combination regimens may be as a bactericidal rather than a sterilizing agent.