Ofloxacin in multidrug resistant tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading infectious cause of death today and 3.81 million cases occurred in 1997 and 1998. Even today in spite of having four drugs like isoniazid, rifampicin, streptomycin/pyrazinamide and ethambutol for the intensive phase, the total duration of treatment remains six months. Because of the global health problems of TB, the increasing rate of multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and the high rate of co-infection with HIV, the need for effective non-toxic antituberculous agents is essential. Fluoroquinolones have been classified as drugs having low bactericidal activity by the WHO. To date, they have been used for preventive therapy, empirical treatment of patients with TB and retreatment of patients with relapsing TB. In-vitro and in-vivo clinical studies have identified ofloxacin as a promising new agent in the treatment of MDR-TB. Ofloxacin has been advocated by the WHO in case of MDR-TB, when susceptibility to test results are not available before starting the new treatment, in the continuation period (18 months) and if resistance is proven to at least isoniazid and rifampicin.

Open, prospective trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination of metronidazole and povidone comparison to povidone iodine alone in pre-and postoperative sterilisation and surgical wound healing.

An open prospective trial was undertaken among 50 patients to evaluate the efficacy and safety of metronidazole and povidone iodine in comparison to povidone iodine alone in pre- and postoperative sterilisation and surgical wound healing. It was found that the combination of metronidazole and povidone iodine is superior to povidone iodine alone in respect to efficacy, in the study.

Accelerated atherosclerosis.

The process of accelerated atherosclerosis appears to share common pathophysiologic mechanisms, namely, endothelial injury with early platelet involvement and subsequent progressive smooth muscle cell proliferation and thrombosis leading to vascular occlusion. Understanding the mechanisms of this process has made it possible to include strategies to limit vascular injury and reduce subsequent thrombotic and proliferating cellular responses. In contrast to spontaneous atherosclerosis, a more significant denuding endothelial injury appears to be the critical initiating event, followed by intense platelet involvement and thrombus formation, leading to an initial predominant process of smooth muscle cell proliferation in accelerated atherosclerosis. Risk factors like cigarette smoking and hypertension play an important role in this process. This accelerated proliferative process appears to be the cause of premature coronary occlusion in patients undergoing heart and kidney transplantation, coronary vein graft bypass and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and diabetes. This accounts for significant morbidity and mortality in these patients. Prophylactic anticalcinotic vasoprotection by suitable calcium antagonists may offer a more appropriate way of anti-arteriosclerotic arterial protection than the other procedures hitherto used. Calcium channel blockers have positive effects on a number of processes that may be associated with restenosis, including reduction of platelet aggregation, minimisation of vasospasm and inhibition of mitogens. In this article the role of nifedipine in accelerated atherosclerosis has been reviewed.