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Treatment of ankylosing spondylitis with moxifloxacin

Mesut Ogrendik1

  • 1Division of Rheumatology, Nazilli State Hospital, Turkey. porphyromonas@superonline.com

Southern Medical Journal
|April 27, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Moxifloxacin, an antibiotic, significantly improved symptoms in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) over 12 weeks. This trial suggests a potential new treatment for this chronic inflammatory disease.

Area of Science:

  • Rheumatology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease linked to HLA-B27, with limited effective treatments.
  • A potential connection between AS and enterobacteria, particularly Klebsiella pneumoniae, has been observed globally.
  • The underlying etiology of AS remains largely unknown, contributing to treatment challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy and safety of moxifloxacin, a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, in treating patients with ankylosing spondylitis.
  • To assess the impact of moxifloxacin on primary and secondary outcome measures of AS inflammatory symptoms.

Main Methods:

  • An open-label trial was conducted involving patients diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis.
  • Participants received treatment with moxifloxacin for a duration of twelve weeks.
  • Clinical outcomes, including primary and secondary measures of inflammation, were monitored.

Main Results:

  • Moxifloxacin treatment led to significant and sustained improvements in patients with AS at the 12-week mark.
  • Primary outcome measures showed statistically significant improvement (P < 0.001) in the moxifloxacin group.
  • Significant improvements were also observed in numerous secondary outcome measures (P < 0.001).

Conclusions:

  • Moxifloxacin demonstrated safety and good tolerability in the twelve-week trial.
  • The antibiotic was associated with marked improvement in the inflammatory symptoms characteristic of ankylosing spondylitis.
  • These findings suggest moxifloxacin as a promising therapeutic option for managing AS.

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