Gonorrhea is a frequent sexually transmitted infection that, if it is not treated promptly, can lead to serious complications. A clinical trial with 628 patients has managed to demonstrate that the first potentially new antibiotic against this disease since the 90s is effective and safe.
This is peepidacin, an antibiotic used to treat urinary tract infections, which, according to the results of the study, could also serve as a new treatment for gonorrhea, protecting against the threat of that which is resistant to drugs and improving patient therapy experiences.
This is suggested by the conclusions of a randomized phase 3 controlled essay published Monday in The Lancet magazine and presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), which is held in Vienna.
Behind the research there are, among others, scientists from the University Hospitals of Birmingham (United Kingdom), from the American universities of Atlanta and the state of Louisiana, and GSK.
Gonorrhea is a frequent sexually transmitted infection that, if not treated quickly, can lead to serious complications, especially in women, where it can increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy and infertility.
Pharmacorresistant gonorrhea cases have increased rapidly in recent years, reducing treatment options. There is an urgent need for treatments for gonorrhea, without new antibiotics since the 1990s, describes a statement from the magazine.
This essay with 628 patients recruited in 49 centers in Australia, Germany, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States, compared a new potential treatment for gonorrhea (gepotidacin, oral tablet) with the current standard treatment (Ceftriaxone, an injection, and azithromycin, by tablet), and discovered that the new one was as effective as the treatment of today.
Specifically, the results verified microbiological success rates of 92.6% in the Gephost Group – which inhibits the replication of bacterial DNA – and 91.2% in the most azithromycin Ceftriaxone group.
“Gephostation (from GSK) proved not to be less than ceftriaxone plus azithromycin for urogenital gonorrhea by N. gonorrhoeaewithout new security concerns, which offers a new option for oral treatment for uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea, ”write the authors in their article.
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Possible first new antibiotic for gonorrhea since 1990 is effective and safe
In addition, the new pill was effective against strains of gonorrhea bacteria resistant to existing antibiotics. No serious or severe side effects related to treatment were observed.
The authors affirm that the new treatment could be an important tool to combat the increase in gonorrhea strains that are being resistant to standard treatment.
Likewise, treatment as a pill without injection would probably improve the experience of patients and reduce health resources, scientists point out.
However, researchers also warn that this study focused mainly on urogenital gonorrhea and that the majority of the essay group were white men.
Therefore, more research is needed to see the impact of the new treatment on rectus gonorrhea and throat, and in women, adolescents and various ethnicities.
In a comment published with The Lancet article, researchers Magnus Unemus, from the University of Örebro (Sweden), and Teodora Wi, of the World Health Organization, indicate that the EAGLE-1 study (name of the essay) is important, since new antimicrobials for gonorrhea have not been introduced since 1990.
However, it raises concerns regarding bacterial resistance.
“In our opinion, N. gonorrhoeae It will also develop resistance to pepper when the selective pressure and compliance with the double dose regime be suboptimal ”.
Due to the inherent ability of gonococci to develop resistance and difficulties in increasing the dose of gepotidacin due to adverse events and lack of other options, they make the preclinical and clinical development of additional treatments for gonorrhea remain important, they argue UNEMO and WI.
“In conclusion, peppering is promising for the treatment of gonorrhea, but the challenges will persist to maintain it as a treatable infection.”
With EFE information.
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