title: Treatment of experimentally induced enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli diarrhea with trimethoprim, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, or placebo.
abstract: In a double-blind study of the treatment of disease caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), diarrhea was induced in volunteers with a trimethoprim (TMP)- and sulfamethoxazole (SMZ)-susceptible strain of E. coli that produces both heat-stable and heat-labile toxin. III volunteers were then treated with TMP, TMP-SMZ, or placebo. Volunteers treated with both TMP alone and the TMP-SMZ combination showed a substantial decrease in the duration and severity of the illness, as compared with the placebo-treated controls. TMP-resistant (MIC, 3.1-12.5 micrograms/ml) ETEC were isolated from stool cultures of five of 10 TMP-treated volunteers and none of 10 TMP-SMZ-treated volunteers after 48 hr of therapy, and in two volunteers the appearance of resistant organisms was associated with a clinical relapse. These data suggest that the TMP-SMZ combination should be evaluated in field trials to determine its usefulness as an adjunct to replacement of fluid and electrolytes in the therapy of ETEC diarrhea.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D004338:Drug Combinations / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010919:Placebos; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors; D014295:Trimethoprim / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015662:Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D010919:Placebos; D015662:Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination; D014295:Trimethoprim; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole