title: Antimicrobial effect of ciprofloxacin, povidone-iodine, and gentamicin in the decontamination of human donor globes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Clinical research addressing the issue of donor globe decontamination is yet to establish convincing data for the optimal choice of an antimicrobial agent.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a donor-globe decontamination study, the antimicrobial effectiveness of a fluoroquinolone antibiotic (ciprofloxacin, 0.3%) was evaluated for the first time and compared with povidone-iodine (P-I, 5%) and gentamicin (0.3%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ciprofloxacin and gentamicin were found to be less effective than P-I (p < 0.05) in converting culture-positive donor globes to culture negative. In eliminating coagulase-negative staphylococci that predominated the bacterial spectrum, again P-I scored better than ciprofloxacin (p = 0.003) and gentamicin (p = 0.006). Overall, P-I performed better than the other two in the 3-min decontamination procedure. Decontamination was carried out with the same agent for 15 min to assess the effect of duration of decontamination on the antimicrobial activity of P-I. With time, there was no significant increase in the antimicrobial efficacy of the agent except for Corynebacterium species.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  P-I continues to be the preferred agent for decontaminating donor globes. Whereas a contact of 3-min duration between P-I and donor globe remains satisfactory in decontamination procedures, corneal tolerance of this procedure needs investigation.
authors.affiliation: Devchand Nagardas Jhaveri Microbiology Centre, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gopinathan
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Nadkarni
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dasari
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D005123:Eye / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000382:microbiology; D005125:Eye Banks; D015818:Eye Infections, Bacterial / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005839:Gentamicins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D011206:Povidone-Iodine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014019:Tissue Donors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D005839:Gentamicins; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D002939:Ciprofloxacin; D011206:Povidone-Iodine