title: Activities of various macrolide antibiotics against Mycobacterium leprae infection in mice.
abstract: We evaluated the activities of several macrolide antibiotics against M. leprae infections in mouse footpads. Erythromycin and azithromycin were inactive, while both roxithromycin and clarithromycin were found to be consistently active and, in fact, bactericidal. By both methods, clarithromycin was found to be superior to roxithromycin, a finding which, at least in part, may be a consequence of the higher levels of clarithromycin at the site of infection.
authors.affiliation: Kuzell Institute for Arthritis and Infectious Diseases, Medical Research Institute of San Francisco, California 94115-1896.
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Gelber
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Siu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.forename: L P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Murray
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017963:Azithromycin; D017291:Clarithromycin; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007918:Leprosy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000187:drug effects; D015575:Roxithromycin / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D015575:Roxithromycin; D004917:Erythromycin; D017963:Azithromycin; D017291:Clarithromycin