Joseph E. Smadel

Preliminary Report on the Beneficial Effect of Chloromycetin in the Treatment of Typhoid Fever.

Excerpt A new antibiotic Chloromycetin has been clinically tested in the treatment of typhoid fever and has been found to exhibit significant chemotherapeutic effects. A description of the results ...

Administration of Chloromycetin to Normal Human Subjects

Conclusion These limited trials indicate that Chloromycetin can be given orally to normal adult males in single doses of 2.0 g, or in daily doses of 1.0 g for 10 days without untoward reactions. The presence of appreciable amounts of drug in the blood and urine of volunteers 30 minutes after oral administration of Chloromycetin indicates that the antibiotic is absorbed rapidly from the gastrointestinal tract of man. Excretion or inactivation of the drug occurs rather rapidly, hence, in order to maintain appreciable levels of the antibiotic in the blood, frequent administration of the drug is indicated.

Chloromycetin in the Treatment of Patients with Typhus Fever

Conclusion On the basis of these limited observations, it may be concluded that the administration of Chloromycetin to patients with typhus fever is a relatively safe procedure. Furthermore, the chemotherapeutic effect obtained in the few patients treated was sufficiently encouraging to warrant further tests with the drug. It is suggested that Chloromycetin be employed in oral treatment of the next group of patients to be studied according to the following schedule; an initial dose of 40 mg per kilo body weight followed by a total daily dose of 35 mg per kilo body weight, given in divided amounts at 2-hour intervals, until obvious improvement in the patients condition is noted; subsequently maintenance dose of 20 mg per kilo body weight per day given in divided amounts at 4-hour intervals, until the 13 th or 14th day after onset.

THE TREATMENT OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER WITH CHLOROMYCETIN

Excerpt The demonstrated efficacy of Chloromycetin in the treatment of human cases of scrub typhus1encouraged belief that this new antibiotic might likewise prove effective in the therapy of Rocky ...

Effect of Chloromycetin on Experimental Infection with Psittacosis and Lymphogranuloma Venereum Viruses

Conclusion Chloromycetin possesses considerable therapeutic activity in embryonated eggs and mice infected with the viruses of psittacosis or lymphogranuloma venereum. This activity is comparable in amount to that demonstrated by others for sulfadiazine and penicillin tested under similar conditions.

Terramycin as a rickettsiostatic agent and its usefulness in patients with scrub typhus.

The new antibiotic terramycin has been found to have a beneficial effect in combating infections caused by several of the rickettsia1 agents.*- The present report is concerned with the use of terramycin and other antibiotics in experimental infections with Rickettsia tsutsugamwhi, R . bwneti, and R. rickeffsii and, also, with the therapeutic activity of terramycin in Malayan patients suffering from scrub typhus. Materials and Melhods. The efficacy of terramycin as a rickettsiostatic agent was compared with that of certain other antibiotics in chemotherapeutic tests employing infected embryonated eggs and mice. These techniques, which have been extensively used in our laboratory, are described in detail elsewhere.6* Unless stated to the contrary, the test substance was administered to a group of 24 six-day-old embryonated eggs by injection into the yolk sac and followed one-half hour later by inoculation of infectious material. Therapeutic effect in such experiments was estimated on the basis of prolongation of life of treated embryos as compared with controls. In order for the results to be considered significant, the difference between the mean age of death of embryos in the test and control groups had to be a t least 2.5 times its standard deviation. Egg-adapted lines of the Gilliam strain of R. tstusugamushi, the Henzerling strain of R . burneti, and the Bitterroot strain of R . rickettszi were used in this portion of the work. The sodium salt of terramycin was employed throughout most of the studies with embryonated eggs, but other forms of the drug (base and hydrochloride) were tested in certain instances described elsewhere in the paper. These materials were supplied by Charles Pfizer and Company. Lot 120021 of chloramphenicol and Lot 7-9022-B of aureomycin hydrochloride for parenteral use were provided by Parke, Davis and Company and Lederle Laboratories, respectively. Mice injected by the intraperitoneal route with the Karp strain of R . Isutsugamushi were treated orally during specified periods after infection with the sodium salt of terramycin. The animals were given the designated daily amount of antibiotic dissolved in their drinking water. Results. Therapy of Experimenlal Rickettsid Infections. The results summarized in TABLE 1 indicate that the three salts of terramycin which were used in the treatment of embryonated eggs infected with scrub typhus were effective in prolonging the lives of the embryos. This was true for all three, even in the smallest dose tested (0.016 mg.). The prolongation of life in the embryos receiving this smallest amount of the hydrochloride was significantly greater than in those receiving the sodium salt. On the other hand, the hydrochloride was not significantly more active than the base i n this particular test. There was no appreciable difference in the efficacy

Comparison of Synthetic and Fermentation Chloramphenicol (Chloromycetin) in Rickettsial and Viral Infections

Conclusion Chloromycetin prepared by chemical synthesis appears to possess the same rickettsiostatic and virustatic properties in experimental infections and the same usefulness in treating patients with scrub typhus that have been demonstrated for chloromycetin produced by Streptomyces venezuelae, N. Sp.