Antibiotic gel shows promise in preventing onset of Lyme borreliosis following tick bite

In continuation of my update on azithromycin

An antibiotic gel based on azithromycin, an antibiotic with antibacterial properties, helps to prevent the onset of Lyme borreliosis following a tick bite. That is the finding of a multi-centre international study, in which MedUni Vienna's Department of Clinical Pharmacology played an important part. The study has now been published in the world-leading journal "The Lancet Infectious Diseases" (impact factor 21,372).

 

In addition to the Medical University of Vienna, Austrian partners involved in the Phase II/III study, which now only has to be followed by a verification study in order to be potentially put into clinical use, were the Medical University of Graz (Department of Dermatology), the Medical University of Innsbruck (Department of Dermatology and Venerology), the Elisabethinen Hospital in Linz and the Center for Travel Medicine in St. Pölten. Other study partners come from Germany (Berlin, Würzburg) and Switzerland (Zürich). The antibiotic gel was developed by the Swiss company Ixodes AG.

A total of 1,000 patients with fresh tick bites were treated with the antibiotic gel within 72 hours of being bitten. Says Jilma: "None of the test subjects went on to develop Lyme borreliosis." Conversely, in the control group that received a placebo, there were seven cases of borreliosis.

The advantage of the gel is that it has no side-effects and, according to the promising results, can therefore also be used for children. Moreover, treatment is very simple: the gel has to be applied every 12 hours over a period of three days. "This kills off the borrelia," explains Jilma.

In Austria, there are around 24,000 cases of Lyme disease every year, while in Western Europe the annual figure is more than 200,000 new cases of the world's most common tick-borne infectious disease. If the infection goes untreated, it can attack a person's joints, heart and nervous system and lead to serious complications. Up to 5% of all tick bites result in Lyme disease: around 20% of ticks are infected.

Ref : http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473-3099(16)30529-1.pdf

Clinical Trials Move to the Petri Dish

In continuation of my update on azithromycinZithromax ....

The common antibiotic Zithromax received a new warning label from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration indicating it could cause dangerous arrhythmias in people with pre-existing heart conditions. Now, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine describe a “clinical trial in a dish” using patient-specific induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells to predict whether a drug will dangerously affect the heart’s function. The technique may be more accurate than the current in vitro drug-safety screening assays used by pharmaceutical companies, say the researchers, and may better protect patients from deadly side effects of common medications.

The technique allows scientists for the first time to test drugs directly on cells with mutations that cause hereditary cardiac diseases, rather than on the genetically modified human embryonic kidney cells or the Chinese hamster ovarian cells currently being used to detect cardiac toxicity.

The use of patient-specific iPS cells may help drug designers winnow heart-safe medications from those like the blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx, which was withdrawn from the market because of unanticipated adverse cardiovascular events. It may also allow clinicians to identify sub-groups of patients, such as those with certain types of cardiac conditions, who should not be given certain drugs.

“Right now, the first time any drug sees a human heart cell is in a phase-1 clinical trial,” said Andrew Lee, a Stanford medical student and one of three lead authors of the study. “If adverse effects are seen, it can result in patient deaths, as in the case of the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx or with cisapride, a drug previously used to treat digestive problems in people with diabetes. Right now, there are really no systematic studies to identify those people who are at risk.” Lee works in the laboratory of Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, who co-directs the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, where the research was conducted.

The researchers anticipate that the technique, if adopted, could save millions of dollars and thousands of lives by streamlining the drug-testing process and increasing its sensitivity.

Clinical Trials Move to the Petri Dish

Azithromycin can be effective treatment option for patients with BOS

In continuation of my update on azithromycin

Azithromycin can be effective treatment option for patients with BOS: Researchers in the United Kingdom have determined that azithromycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic that also has anti-inflammatory properties, can be an effective treatment option for patients suffering from bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), a life-threatening complication that occurs in the majority of patients following lung transplantation.

Breakthrough in Treatment to Prevent Blindness | www.ucsf.edu

In continuation of my update on Azithromycin....
Breakthrough in Treatment to Prevent Blindness | www.ucsf.edu

Azithromycin as effective as penicillin for early-stage syphilis...

We know that azithromycin (structure) is one of the world's best-selling  antibiotics. It is derived from erythromycin; however, it differs chemically from erythromycin in that a methyl-substituted nitrogen atom is incorporated into the lactone ring, thus making the lactone ring 15-membered.  Azithromycin is being used to treat or prevent certain bacterial infections, most often those causing middle ear infections, tonsillitis, throat infections, laryngitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, Typhoid, certain urinary tract infections and venereal diseases, such as non-gonococcal urethritis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and cervicitis. and sinusitis. In recent years it has primarily been used to prevent bacterial infections in infants and those with weaker immune systems.

Now researchers lead by Dr. Edward W. Hook, III of University of Alabama at Birmingham have come up with an interesting finding, i.e., antibiotic pills (azithromycin) are as effective as penicillin injections in curing early-stage syphilis in HIV-negative volunteers. 

Although long-acting penicillin delivered by injection is recommended as the preferred treatment for early syphilis, the authors note that this therapy has shortcomings, particularly in resource-limited settings. Penicillin injections can cause allergic reactions, and the drug must be refrigerated and administrated by trained personnel. The orally administered azithromycin may provide a good alternative for treating HIV-negative people with early-stage syphilis, the scientists conclude. They note that there is a potential for syphilis-causing bacteria to acquire resistance to macrolide drugs such as azithromycin and they recommend continued research into this possibility..

Ref : http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2010/Pages/syphilis.aspx