01419nas a2200229   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653003000067653001600097653001100113653002300124653002500147653000900172653002500181100001500206245009100221300001100312490000700323520084500330022001401175       1994                            d  c1994 Nov10aAnimals10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aForecasting10aHumans10aLeprostatic Agents10aLeprosy, lepromatous10aMice10aMycobacterium leprae1 aGelber R H00aChemotherapy of lepromatous leprosy: recent developments and prospects for the future.  a942-520 v133 a<p>Leprosy is a major debilitating infectious disease, primarily of the developing world. In this paper the current status and future prospects of antimicrobial therapy of the severe anergic lepromatous form of the disease are reviewed. Until the last few years only dapsone, rifampicin, clofazimine and ethionamide have had practical application in its therapy, and only rifampicin was bactericidal. Recently, antibiotics from three different classes have been found to be bactericidal in lepromatous patients: a tetracycline (minocycline), a macrolide (clarithromycin), and several fluoroquinolones (including pefloxacin, ofloxacin and sparfloxacin). Against a background of drug resistance and bacterial persistence, recommendations for multidrug therapy and the means to devise rationally based therapy for the future are discussed.</p>  a0934-9723