Experimental Data on the Antimycobacterial Activity of Isoprodian^(R)

Abstract

Until today, it is not common to discuss the chemotherapy of “mycobacterioses” as a single topic. Treatment of tuberculosis, leprosy etc. is considered more or less separately, in spite of the obvious advantage of a common approach recognized e.g. by Mayer (1964) or possibly even earlier. Prothionamide (PTH) and/or diaphenylsulphone (DDS) were claimed to increase the antimycobacterial activity of rifampicin (RMP, Freerksen and Rosenfeld, 1972) or of isoniazid (INH, Freerksen, 1973). Also, it has been reported by Middlebrook and Yegian (1946) that no resistance to streptomycin (SM) occured in mycobacteria exposed in vitro simultaneously to SM and DDS. According to Shepard (1972), B-663 (LAMPRENE), ethionamide (ETH) and DDS were reported to give mutually additive results with their combinations against M.leprae; longer bacterial growth delay was observed in M.leprae by Matsuo (1974) with RMP+DDS than with RMP alone. The rationale for combined chemotherapy in tuberculosis has been for years that the development of mycobacterial resistance to each drug alone may be prevented.