Overview of the fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

  • 1 January 1993
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 13  (2 Pt 2) , 4S-17S
Abstract
The fluoroquinolones represent an important advance in antimicrobial therapy. Commercially available products in the United States now include norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, enoxacin, and lomefloxacin. Although they share a common mechanism of action, they differ significantly in their antimicrobial spectrum of activity, their pharmacokinetic characteristics, and, to a lesser degree, their safety profiles. These compounds are generally highly effective against aerobic gram-negative and many gram-positive isolates; their activity is more limited against anaerobic bacteria. Quinolone-resistant bacteria have been isolated, but most do not appear to pose a clinically significant problem at this time. The agents are effective in the treatment of a wide range of infections. Although some, such as ciprofloxacin and enoxacin, have been associated with clinically significant interactions with theophylline derivatives, others such as ofloxacin and lomefloxacin appear to have a limited propensity for such interactions.

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