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Last Updated: Dec 27th, 2006 - 19:07:47 |
Tequin (gatifloxacin), one of a group of broad-spectrum antibiotics used to treat lung, sinus and urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases, may raise or reduce blood sugar to a dangerous level in diabetics, found a new study scheduled to appear in the March 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Previous studies have already found that gatifloxacin is associated with both hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.
Laura Y. Park-Wyllie and colleagues from the institute for Clinical Evaluation Sciences and other Canadian organizations conducted two studies. One study involved 788 older patients who received treatments for hypoglycemia within 30 days after antibiotic therapy, and the other involved 470 elderly patients treated for hyperglycemia within 30 days after antibiotic therapy
Compared with macolides, use of gatifloxacin was linked with a 4.3 times higher risk of hypoglycemia and with a 16.7 times higher risk of hyperglycemia. The risk is similarly present among both diabetics and non-diabetics.
A macolide is an antibiotic in a class of broad spectrum antibiotics that include Biaxin, Clarithromycin, Ery-Tab, and Erythromycin, which are produced by various strains of Streptomyces. They act to inhibit protein synthesis, particularly block the 50S ribosomal subunit.
Along with gatifloxacin, cephalosporin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, or ciprofloxacin were also studied, but no risk was found to be with these antibiotics.
Previous studies have linked use of certain antibiotics with elevated risk of cancer such as breast cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
One study reported in the Nov. 15, 2005 issue of American Journal of Epidemiology found an association between antibiotic use and NHL for all subtypes, particularly in those who had been given antibiotics more than 10 times in their childhood.
Antibiotics can indiscriminately kill all types of bacteria including those beneficial ones in the intestines, which may flourish growth of other biological species such as toxin-producing molds.
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