title: Early bactericidal activity of paromomycin (aminosidine) in patients with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis.
abstract: The early bactericidal activity of the aminoglycoside paromomycin (aminosidine) in doses of 7.5 and 15 mg/kg of body weight was measured in 22 patients with previously untreated smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. The fall in log(10) CFU per milliliter of sputum per day during the first 2 days of treatment for 7 patients receiving a paromomycin dosage of 7.5 mg/kg/day was 0.066, with a standard deviation (SD) of 0.216 and confidence limits from -0.134 to 0.266, and that for 15 patients receiving 15 mg/kg/day was 0.0924, with an SD of 0.140 and confidence limits from 0.015 to 0.170. The difference between the mean and zero was not significant for the 7. 5-mg/kg dose group but was significant for the 15-mg/kg dose group (t = 2.55, P = 0.023). Since paromomycin has no cross-resistance with streptomycin and has no greater toxicity than other aminoglycosides, these results suggest that it has the potential to substitute for streptomycin in antituberculosis regimens and may be a particularly valuable addition to the drug armamentarium for the management of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics and Child Health, Tygerberg Hospital, Tygerberg, South Africa. aec1@gerga.sun.ac.za
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Donald
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Sirgel
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Kanyok
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Danziger
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venter
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Botha
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Parkin
authors.forename: H I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Seifart
authors.forename: B W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Van De Wal
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Maritz
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Mitchison
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001407:Bacillus / Q000187:drug effects; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D006801:Humans; D010303:Paromomycin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016369:Smear Layer; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010303:Paromomycin