Prulifloxacin: a new antibacterial fluoroquinolone

Abstract

In the last few years, the antimicrobial activity, efficacy and relative safety of fluoroquinolones have made them attractive for the treatment of community-acquired and nosocomial infections. Prulifloxacin is a new fluoroquinolone antibacterial agent with a broad spectrum of activity against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. Prulifloxacin is available for oral use, and after absorption is metabolized in to the active form, ulifloxacin. It exhibits good penetration in target tissues and a long elimination half-life, allowing once-daily administration. A number of randomized, controlled clinical trials carried out in Europe demonstrated the efficacy of prulifloxacin in the treatment of urinary tract (acute uncomplicated and complicated) and respiratory tract infections (acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis), in comparison with the most widely used drugs such as ciprofloxacin, co-amoxiclav and pefloxacin. Prulifloxacin was generally well tolerated. The most frequent adverse reactions observed in clinical trials were gastric pain, diarrhea, nausea and skin rash. This review focuses on the characteristics of prulifloxacin, summarizing the relevant preclinical and clinical data.

Prophylactic single-dose prulifloxacin for catheter-associated urinary tract infection after tension-free vaginal tape procedure

“…Prulifloxacin, the prodrug of ulifloxacin, is a new oral fluoroquinolone antibacterial agent, with a broad-spectrum of antibacterial activity and a good clinical and bacteriological efficacy [10][11][12][13][14]. Randomized comparative studies in patients with uncomplicated or complicated lower UTIs showed high eradication and clinical success rates, greater or at least as high as those of ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin/ clavulanic acid, or pefloxacin [15,16].…”

Antimicrobial Activity of Prulifloxacin Tested against a Worldwide Collection of Gastroenteritis-Producing Pathogens, Including Those Causing Traveler's Diarrhea

“…Prulifloxacin is converted to its active form, ulifloxacin, following oral administration and intestinal absorption (2,11,15,16). This fluoroquinolone is administered orally as a 600-mg tablet once daily and has been shown to maintain high concentrations within the gastrointestinal tract (12,16).…”

“…displaying resistance to nalidixic acid and susceptibility to ciprofloxacin were a worrisome finding, being indicative of first-step mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining region. However, prulifloxacin levels in the bowel remain higher than those of other peer drugs due to 50% absorption (11,12,16).…”

Investigational treatments for postoperative surgical site infections

“…Its Gram-positive spectrum includes streptococci, S. pneumoniae and MSSA, but not MRSA. The compound targets urinary tract and respiratory tract infections [111].…”