anti malaria drug and resistance to antibiotics
in [Lupus]
|
From: Sherry on 16 Jul 2008 14:35 By Julie Steenhuysen Wed Jul 16, 1:54 AM ET CHICAGO (Reuters) - Treatment with a common malaria drug may explain why people in remote villages in South America have high levels of resistance to a widely used class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones, despite never having taken the drugs, Canadian researchers said on Tuesday. The surprising findings suggest that treating malaria with the cheap, widely used drug chloroquine -- a close cousin of fluoroquinolones -- may boost the risk of resistance to these antibiotics, they said. Fluoroquinolones or quinolones are among the most commonly used antibiotics in North America and Europe, said Dr. Michael Silverman of Lakeridge Health Centre in Oshawa, Ontario. "Loss of these drugs would be a major blow to public health," said Silverman, whose study appears in the journal PLoS One. He and colleagues studied people in extremely remote villages in the Guyanese rain forest during humanitarian medical visits between 2002 and 2005. Silverman said this population had never been exposed to fluoroquinolones, and thus represented a unique population to study antibiotic resistance, which is thought to be linked with the overuse of antibiotics. He had expected to find none. Instead, they found 4.8 percent of people studied had strains of E. coli that were resistant to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, the generic name for Bayer AG's drug Cipro, and one of the most popular fluoroquinolones. Silverman said a resistance rate of 4.8 percent is especially high considering that a 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found a 4 percent resistance rate in intensive care units in North America, where the drug is widely used. Tests of local water samples confirmed that no antibacterial agents were found in the drinking water, but chloroquine, used to fight malaria, was present. OTHER DRUGS COULD BE AFFECTED To confirm that chloroquine could cause resistance, the researchers combined the drug with bacteria in the lab and found that it had a weak antibiotic effect. It was not enough to kill the bacteria, but enough to develop resistance. Silverman said resistance to Cipro could extend to newer drugs in the class such as Johnson & Johnson's Levaquin or levofloxacin and Bayer's Avelox or moxifloxacin. "We tested for Cipro because that is still the most widely used, but we know any bacteria that is resistant to one is resistant to all," Silverman said. He said the findings could have implications for a new generation of malaria therapies known as artemisinin-based combination therapies, or ACT drugs, which are recommended by the World Health Organization because of growing resistance to older treatments such as chloroquine. ACT therapies usually include quinoline drugs similar to chloroquine, Silverman said. "The question is, 'Is this true of all quinolines or just chloroquine?"' Silverman said the findings help explain high rates of resistance to fluoroquinolones in tropical regions. "What we have to do is redouble our efforts to prevent malaria, so we can use less of these drugs," he said. Malaria, caused by a parasite carried by mosquitoes, kills more than 1 million people a year worldwide. The full study can be found at http://www.plosone.org/doi/pone.0002727.
From: George Parton on 16 Jul 2008 15:08 Thanks Sherry, this is very interesting. Not being too bright in the drug department, I'm not sure if the stuff I take is the same as what is mentioned here. I take the generic form of Plaquenil called Hydrochloroquine (I think). In past readings I remember that there are more than one form of this chloroquine with some having adverse side effects. Do you know the difference? Thanks for the great on-topic post! George Sherry wrote: > By Julie Steenhuysen Wed Jul 16, 1:54 AM ET > > CHICAGO (Reuters) - Treatment with a common malaria drug may explain why > people in remote villages in South America have high levels of > resistance to a widely used class of antibiotics known as > fluoroquinolones, despite never having taken the drugs, Canadian > researchers said on Tuesday. > > The surprising findings suggest that treating malaria with the cheap, > widely used drug chloroquine -- a close cousin of fluoroquinolones -- > may boost the risk of resistance to these antibiotics, they said. > Fluoroquinolones or quinolones are among the most commonly used > antibiotics in North America and Europe, said Dr. Michael Silverman of > Lakeridge Health Centre in Oshawa, Ontario. "Loss of these drugs would > be a major blow to public health," said Silverman, whose study appears > in the journal PLoS One. > > He and colleagues studied people in extremely remote villages in the > Guyanese rain forest during humanitarian medical visits between 2002 and > 2005. > > Silverman said this population had never been exposed to > fluoroquinolones, and thus represented a unique population to study > antibiotic resistance, which is thought to be linked with the overuse of > antibiotics. He had expected to find none. > > Instead, they found 4.8 percent of people studied had strains of E. coli > that were resistant to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, the generic name > for Bayer AG's drug Cipro, and one of the most popular fluoroquinolones. > > Silverman said a resistance rate of 4.8 percent is especially high > considering that a 2003 study published in the Journal of the American > Medical Association found a 4 percent resistance rate in intensive care > units in North America, where the drug is widely used. > > Tests of local water samples confirmed that no antibacterial agents were > found in the drinking water, but chloroquine, used to fight malaria, was > present. > > OTHER DRUGS COULD BE AFFECTED > > To confirm that chloroquine could cause resistance, the researchers > combined the drug with bacteria in the lab and found that it had a weak > antibiotic effect. It was not enough to kill the bacteria, but enough to > develop resistance. > > Silverman said resistance to Cipro could extend to newer drugs in the > class such as Johnson & Johnson's Levaquin or levofloxacin and Bayer's > Avelox or moxifloxacin. > > "We tested for Cipro because that is still the most widely used, but we > know any bacteria that is resistant to one is resistant to all," > Silverman said. > > He said the findings could have implications for a new generation of > malaria therapies known as artemisinin-based combination therapies, or > ACT drugs, which are recommended by the World Health Organization > because of growing resistance to older treatments such as chloroquine. > > ACT therapies usually include quinoline drugs similar to chloroquine, > Silverman said. "The question is, 'Is this true of all quinolines or > just chloroquine?"' > > Silverman said the findings help explain high rates of resistance to > fluoroquinolones in tropical regions. > > "What we have to do is redouble our efforts to prevent malaria, so we > can use less of these drugs," he said. > > Malaria, caused by a parasite carried by mosquitoes, kills more than 1 > million people a year worldwide. The full study can be found at > http://www.plosone.org/doi/pone.0002727. > > >
From: Sherry on 16 Jul 2008 18:01 George, this is what I found on the cdc website. Hydroxychloroquine & chloroquine are anti-malarial medications. Besides being active against malaria, they are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and cutaneous lupus erythematosus (LE) and rashes associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). They are also used in some photosensitivity disorders and occasionally in other inflammatory skin conditions. Hydroxychloroquine is used much more frequently than chloroquine, as chloroquine is more likely to cause irreversible retinal damage. Hydroxychloroquine is available in New Zealand as Plaquenil�, in 200 mg tablets. The usual dose for skin disease is 200 to 600 mg daily, best taken after meals. Chloroquine is available in New Zealand as Chlorquin� tablets (250 mg) and Nivaquine� film-coated tablets (200 mg) and syrup (68 mg/5ml). The usual dose for skin disease is 100 to 400 mg daily, best taken after meals. The dose in children is 3 mg/kg bodyweight daily. "George Parton" <GEParton(a)netscape.net> wrote in message news:0Hrfk.2003$YX6.1711(a)newsfe04.iad... > Thanks Sherry, this is very interesting. > > Not being too bright in the drug department, I'm not sure if the stuff I > take is the same as what is mentioned here. I take the generic form of > Plaquenil called Hydrochloroquine (I think). In past readings I remember > that there are more than one form of this chloroquine with some having > adverse side effects. Do you know the difference? > > Thanks for the great on-topic post! > > George > > Sherry wrote: >> By Julie Steenhuysen Wed Jul 16, 1:54 AM ET >> >> CHICAGO (Reuters) - Treatment with a common malaria drug may explain why >> people in remote villages in South America have high levels of resistance >> to a widely used class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones, despite >> never having taken the drugs, Canadian researchers said on Tuesday. >> >> The surprising findings suggest that treating malaria with the cheap, >> widely used drug chloroquine -- a close cousin of fluoroquinolones -- >> may boost the risk of resistance to these antibiotics, they said. >> Fluoroquinolones or quinolones are among the most commonly used >> antibiotics in North America and Europe, said Dr. Michael Silverman of >> Lakeridge Health Centre in Oshawa, Ontario. "Loss of these drugs would be >> a major blow to public health," said Silverman, whose study appears in >> the journal PLoS One. >> >> He and colleagues studied people in extremely remote villages in the >> Guyanese rain forest during humanitarian medical visits between 2002 and >> 2005. >> >> Silverman said this population had never been exposed to >> fluoroquinolones, and thus represented a unique population to study >> antibiotic resistance, which is thought to be linked with the overuse of >> antibiotics. He had expected to find none. >> >> Instead, they found 4.8 percent of people studied had strains of E. coli >> that were resistant to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, the generic name for >> Bayer AG's drug Cipro, and one of the most popular fluoroquinolones. >> >> Silverman said a resistance rate of 4.8 percent is especially high >> considering that a 2003 study published in the Journal of the American >> Medical Association found a 4 percent resistance rate in intensive care >> units in North America, where the drug is widely used. >> >> Tests of local water samples confirmed that no antibacterial agents were >> found in the drinking water, but chloroquine, used to fight malaria, was >> present. >> >> OTHER DRUGS COULD BE AFFECTED >> >> To confirm that chloroquine could cause resistance, the researchers >> combined the drug with bacteria in the lab and found that it had a weak >> antibiotic effect. It was not enough to kill the bacteria, but enough to >> develop resistance. >> >> Silverman said resistance to Cipro could extend to newer drugs in the >> class such as Johnson & Johnson's Levaquin or levofloxacin and Bayer's >> Avelox or moxifloxacin. >> >> "We tested for Cipro because that is still the most widely used, but we >> know any bacteria that is resistant to one is resistant to all," >> Silverman said. >> >> He said the findings could have implications for a new generation of >> malaria therapies known as artemisinin-based combination therapies, or >> ACT drugs, which are recommended by the World Health Organization because >> of growing resistance to older treatments such as chloroquine. >> >> ACT therapies usually include quinoline drugs similar to chloroquine, >> Silverman said. "The question is, 'Is this true of all quinolines or just >> chloroquine?"' >> >> Silverman said the findings help explain high rates of resistance to >> fluoroquinolones in tropical regions. >> >> "What we have to do is redouble our efforts to prevent malaria, so we can >> use less of these drugs," he said. >> >> Malaria, caused by a parasite carried by mosquitoes, kills more than 1 >> million people a year worldwide. The full study can be found at >> http://www.plosone.org/doi/pone.0002727. >> >>
From: Curtis R Anderson on 20 Jul 2008 19:23 George Parton wrote: > Thanks Sherry, this is very interesting. > > Not being too bright in the drug department, I'm not sure if the stuff I > take is the same as what is mentioned here. I take the generic form of > Plaquenil called Hydrochloroquine (I think). In past readings I > remember that there are more than one form of this chloroquine with some > having adverse side effects. Do you know the difference? > > Thanks for the great on-topic post! There was a _M*A*S*H_ episode dealing with dispensing primaquine instead of chloroquine. Apparently, those of Mediterranean descent suffer from forms of anemia as a result of taking primaquine, as noted in the episode. It apparently forced the Army to change their antimalarial meds around. -- Curtis R. Anderson, Co-creator of "Gleepy the Hen", still Email not munged, SpamAssassin [tm] in effect. http://www.gleepy.net/ mailto:gleepy(a)intelligencia.com mailto:gleepy(a)gleepy.net (and others) Yahoo!: gleepythehen
|
Pages: 1 Prev: Anti-inflammatory Antitumor Activity Next: Retards Responding Retardedly |