Drugs Used in Urinary Tract Infection

Since quinine was first isolated, animals, plants and microorganisms producing a wide variety of quinolone compounds have been discovered, several of which possess medicinally interesting properties ranging from antiallergenic and anticancer to antimicrobial activities. The understanding of some structure-activity relationships of quinolones allowed the development of the new fluorinated quinolones, compounds with a major clinical potential. The basic structure of these drugs consists of a substituted pyridine ring and a carboxylic acid ring. The increased use of fluoroquinolones has led to increasing resistance to these antimicrobials, with rates of resistance that vary by both organism and geographic region. Resistance to fluoroquinolones typically arises as a result of alterations in the target enzymes (DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV). There have been few recent reviews of the nitrofurans in the literature, and none include recently available data on the use of nitrofurazone (nitrofural) in the prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI).