Gonorrhea is
one of the most common STD in US. Recently public health officials have
identified cluster of gonorrhea cases in Hawaii that show decreasing susceptibility
to ceftriaxone and high level of resistance to azithromycin. [1]
Currently a combination of ceftriaxone and azithromycin is the last available option
for treating gonorrhea and investigators believe that they will run out of this
option in near future. Left
untreated, gonorrhea can lead to serious health problems including infertility,
pelvic inflammatory disease and life-threatening ectopic pregnancy in women.
- One third of the new gonorrhea infection are resistant to at least 1 drug.
- It is the most common communicable disease in the US, with an estimated 820,000 new infections each year.
- We are only left with 1 treatment option for gonorrhea out of 5 reported by CDC in 2006 due to development of resistance by the bacteria.
Hence,
researchers have renewed interest in development of new drug for gonorrhea. At
the 2016 STD Prevention Conference, researchers from Louisiana State University
presented results of phase 2 clinical trials of experimental oral antibiotic that
was safe and effective in treating uncomplicated gonorrhea. Unlike any other
marketed antibiotic, the new drug dubbed as ETX0914 is a novel spiropyrimidinetrione,
that acts by inhibiting deoxyribonucleic acid biosynthesis by accumulation of
double strand cleavages. [3]
In a small clinical
trial, a total of 179 participants (167 men and 12 women) were randomized
approximately 70:70:40 to receive either 2000mg or 3000mg ETX0914 orally or
500mg ceftriaxone in a single intramuscular injection.
Patients
were followed up for safety, microbiological and clinical cure rates. The drug was
well tolerated with only mild gastrointestinal side effects.
All patients
receiving 3g ETX0914 (47/47) and 98 percent of patients in the 2g group (48/49)
were cured.
The trials
lead investigator Stephanie N. Taylor, M.D., professor of medicine and microbiology
at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center said “We are very pleased
with these results and look forward to seeing ETX0914 advance through
additional clinical studies.”
The
combination therapy of azithromycin and ceftriaxone recommended by CDC is still
effective, but “ will eventually fail” says Jonathan Mermin, MD, director of the CDC's center for
HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, STD, and TB prevention quotes "In the battle
between humans and pathogens," he said, "gonorrhea is a formidable
opponent."
No comments:
Post a Comment