[A 4-week oral toxicity study of prulifloxacin (NM441) in dogs followed by a 4-week recovery test]

Correlation among the toxicity profiling (28-days repeated oral dose toxicity), toxicokinetics and tissue distribution data of ulifloxacin, the active metabolite of prulifloxacin in Wistar albino rats

This experiment was designed to investigate correlation among 28-days repeated oral dose toxicity, toxicokinetics and tissue distribution data of ulifloxacin (active metabolite of prulifloxacin) in Wistar albino rats. Prulifloxacin was administered for 28-days in rats at 0, 100, 200, 400mg/kg/day followed by 14-days recovery period. Simultaneously different toxicokinetic parameters and tissue distributions of ulifloxacin was examined by LC-MS/MS method. Plasma levels and tissue concentrations of ulifloxacin were increased with dose-related manner. Ulifloxacin was also distributed to many tissues, and concentration in lungs nearly equivalent to the plasma concentration. Based on these results it was concluded that long-term repeated dose of prulifloxacin may produce different blood parameters abnormality, liver damage, stomach ulcer, joint damage and dysfunction of lungs in rats which relates to high tissue distribution and accumulation of ulifloxacin in these tissues. These findings help in management of prulifloxacin induced adverse effects by appropriate dose selection in clinical practice.

Pharmacologic characteristics of prulifloxacin

Prulifloxacin, the prodrug of ulifloxacin, is a broad-spectrum oral fluoroquinolone antibacterial agent. After absorption, prulifloxacin is metabolized by esterases to ulifloxacin. The drug has a long elimination half-life, allowing once-daily administration. In vitro, ulifloxacin is generally more active than other fluoroquinolones against a variety of clinical isolates of Gram-negative bacteria, including community and nosocomial isolates of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Proteus, Providencia and Morganella spp., Moraxella catarrhalis, Haemophilus spp., and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Gram-positive organisms, including methicillin- or oxacillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus spp. and Streptococcus pneumoniae, are susceptible to ulifloxacin. In well-designed clinical trials, prulifloxacin showed good clinical and bacteriological efficacy (similar to that of ciprofloxacin) and was generally well tolerated, demonstrating a similar tolerability profile to that of ciprofloxacin. In conclusion, the in vitro inhibitory and bactericidal activities exhibited by ulifloxacin and the favorable characteristics shown by its prodrug (prulifloxacin) in clinical trials, particularly indicate this drug for the treatment of lung and urinary infections.