Update on clindamycin in the management of bacterial, fungal and protozoal infections.
Lincomycin and clindamycin are the only members of the relatively small lincosamide antimicrobial class marketed for use in humans. This paper only reviews data regarding clindamycin, with an emphasis on data published over the last decade. Clindamycin exhibits a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity, including Gram-positive aerobes/anaerobes, Gram-negative anaerobes and select protozoa (Toxoplasma gondii, Plasmodium falciparum, Babesia spp.) and fungi (Pneumocystis jiroveci). It still enjoys use in the therapy and prophylaxis of a large number of bacterial, protozoal and fungal infections, despite > 40 years of clinical use. However, the spectre of resistance by an increasing number of microorganisms is beginning to cast a shadow over the future use of this valuable agent. With the emergence and spread of infections due to community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococci (for which clindamycin is a first-line agent), it is hoped that the issues of resistance can be mitigated and the use of clindamycin extended for at least the foreseeable future.
Guay
David
D
University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy, Weaver-Densford Hall 7-148, 308 Harvard Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. guayx001@umn.edu
D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D002981:Clindamycin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D009181:Mycoses / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology
D002981:Clindamycin