Clinically used antimicrobial drugs against experimental pneumocystosis, singly and in combination: analysis of drug interactions and efficacies.
Abstract
Clinically used antimicrobial drugs against experimental pneumocystosis, singly and in combination: analysis of drug interactions and efficacies. P D Walzer , J Runck , S Orr , J Foy , P Steele and M White Research Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45220, USA. ABSTRACT We analyzed single drugs and combinations of drugs used clinically in the treatment of opportunistic infections and other conditions for their activities against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in immunosuppressed rats. When they were used alone, atovaquone, rifabutin, and dapsone were more active than clarithromycin or trimethoprim. Drug combinations were evaluated for synergistic activity by an analysis of variance model for two-way factorial experiments and a response surface model. Atovaquone combined with trimethoprim trimethoprim and some combinations of dapsone and clarithromycin was synergistic; however, the activities of combinations of atovaquone and rifabutin, atovaquone and clarithromycin, and atovaquone and dapsone were simply additive. Lovastatin, which inhibits 3-hydroxy-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, was inactive whether it was used alone or in combination with other agents. None of the synergistic drug combinations was as effective as trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. We conclude that the rat model can be used to test combinations of anti-P. carinii agents for synergistic activity by well-established statistical techniques. While some combinations of clinically used antimicrobial drugs have enhanced anti-P. carinii activity, further studies are needed before clinical trials can be contemplated. CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Mendeley Reddit StumbleUpon Twitter What's this? « Previous | Next Article » Table of Contents This Article Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. February 1997 vol. 41 no. 2 242-250 » Abstract PDF Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in ASM journals Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of AAC Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Load citing article information Citing articles via Web of Science Citing articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Walzer, P. D. Articles by White, M. Search for related content PubMed PubMed citation Articles by Walzer, P. D. Articles by White, M. Related Content Load related web page information Social Bookmarking CiteULike Connotea Delicious Digg Facebook Google+ Mendeley Reddit StumbleUpon Twitter What's this? current issue December 2011, volume 55, issue 12 Alert me to new issues of AAC About AAC Subscribers Authors Reviewers Advertisers Inquiries from the Press Permissions & Commercial Reprints ASM Journals Public Access Policy AAC RSS Feeds 1752 N Street N.W. • Washington DC 20036 202.737.3600 • 202.942.9355 fax • journals@asmusa.org Print ISSN: 0066-4804 Online ISSN: 1098-6596 Copyright © 2011 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to AAC .asm.org, visit: http://intl- AAC .asm.org | More Info» var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-5821458-3"); pageTracker._trackPageview();