Ofloxacin, which is mostly positive for patients, is an antimicrobial agent from the group of fluoroquinolones with a wide spectrum of activity. The drug has an effect on DNA gyrase, a bacterial fragment that provides supercoiling and, as a result, stability of DNA bacteria (as a result of destabilization of the DNA chain, they die).
Pharmacodynamics
Ofloxacin is an antibiotic effective against microorganisms that produce beta-lactamases, as well as atypical fast-growing microbacteria. Most gram-negative bacteria, including microflora resistant to methicillin and other antibiotics, are sensitive to the medication. Streptococci, enterococci, and tuberculosis microbacteria are characterized by inconsistent susceptibility to the Ofloxacin drug. The reviews of doctors indicate that in the treatment of anaerobic infections caused by peptostreptococci, peptococci and other anaerobes, the drug is often ineffective.
Pharmacokinetics
After taking the medication inside, the absorption is complete (95 percent) and fast. Bioavailability is over 96 percent. Communication with plasma proteins - 25 percent. One to two hours after oral administration, the highest concentration is achieved. It depends on the dose: with a single use of two hundred, four hundred or six hundred milligrams of the drug, the concentration is 2.5, 5 or 6.9 μg / ml, respectively.
Eating can affect absorption in the direction of its slowdown, but does not significantly affect bioavailability. Ofloxacin is an antibiotic with a significant volume of distribution (one hundred liters), therefore, the administered drug penetrates almost completely into the cells in almost all quantities. The maximum concentrations are created in tissues, fluids and organs: in cells (alveolar macrophages, leukocytes), soft tissues, skin, bones, respiratory system, pelvic and abdominal organs, saliva, prostate secretion, urine, and bile. The drug penetrates well through the placental and blood-brain barriers, is secreted with mother's milk, and also enters the cerebrospinal fluid with non-inflamed and inflamed brain membranes (from 14 to 60 percent).
About 5 percent of the drug is metabolized in the liver to form dimethylofloxacin and H-oxide-ofloxacin. Regardless of the dose taken, the half-life is from four and a half to seven hours. The drug is excreted unchanged in an amount of 75-90 percent by the kidneys, in an amount of 4 percent - with bile. Less than 20 percent is extrarenal clearance. After a single dose of two hundred milligrams in the urine, the drug is detected within 20-24 hours. In case of hepatic or renal failure, excretion may be slowed down. With hemodialysis, 10 to 30 percent of the drug is eliminated.
Indications for appointment
In case of infectious and inflammatory diseases caused by various microorganisms, Ofloxacin is indicated. Reviews report that it helps a lot with infections of the respiratory tract (pneumonia, bronchitis), ENT organs (otitis media, sinusitis, laryngitis, pharyngitis). Prescribe medication for lesions of soft tissues, joints, bones, skin, bile ducts, urinary tract (urethritis, cystitis), kidneys (pyelonephritis), abdominal cavity, genitals (orchitis, colpitis, epididymitis), pelvic organs (salpingitis, prostate, cervicitis, endometritis, oophoritis, parametritis).
The drug is also effective for ureaplasmosis, chlamydia, gonorrhea. Use it to prevent the development of infections in patients with impaired immune status (including with neuropenia).
Dosage form. Structure
The release of the medication is carried out in the form of round-biconvex tablets coated with a white or almost white film shell. Two layers are visible on the cross section, one of which has a yellowish tint. The active ingredient is ofloxacin. In one tablet it is contained in a mass of 200 or 400 milligrams. The minor ingredients are primellose (croscarmellose sodium), microcrystalline cellulose, aerosil (colloidal silicon dioxide), titanium dioxide, povidone, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (hypromellose), talc, magnesium stearate, polyethylene glycol 4000 (macrogol). The great advantage of Ofloxacin is the price. Tablets containing 200 milligrams of active substance cost an average of only 16-20 rubles per 10 pieces, and those that contain 400 milligrams ofloxacin will cost about 50-55 rubles per 10 pieces.
The medicine Ofloxacin. Instructions for use
Tablets should be drunk before or after a meal. They need to be swallowed whole, without chewing, and washed down with water in a small amount. The dosage should be selected individually depending on the severity of the disease, the location of the infection, the general condition of the patient, the functioning of the kidneys, liver, and also the sensitivity of the bacteria.
As a rule, treatment with Ofloxacin is carried out for seven to ten days. Adults are prescribed daily intake of two hundred to six hundred milligrams twice a day. The dose may be increased to eight hundred milligrams in case of severe infection or if the patient is overweight. A dose of four hundred milligrams can be taken at a time, preferably in the morning.
Patients with impaired renal function should not be taken once more than two hundred milligrams of the drug, the maximum dose per day for liver failure is four hundred milligrams. After the disappearance of the symptoms of the disease and the normalization of temperature for another two to three days, therapy should be continued.
Side effects Patient Reviews
Ofloxacin is not well tolerated by all patients. Reviews of some people contain information that the drug causes headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, tremor, numbness of the limbs. On the part of the digestive system, abdominal pains, gastralgia, flatulence, cholestatic jaundice, anorexia, hyperbilirubinemia, pseudomembranous enterocolitis can also develop, and on the part of the nervous system, lack of movement, convulsions, intense dreams, psychotic reactions, agitation, anxiety, confusion, hallucinations, depression.
In addition, there is a risk of disorders from the motor apparatus (arthralgia, tendonitis, myalgia), sensory organs (disturbances in taste, color perception, hearing, balance, smell), blood vessels and heart system (decreased blood pressure, tachycardia), skin (dermatitis, pinpoint hemorrhages, papular rash), hemopoietic organs (thrombocytopenia, anemia, leukopenia). After taking the drug “Ofloxacin” (reviews confirm this), in some cases, itching, bronchospasm, and urticaria appear.
Contraindications
Taking the medication is prohibited with intolerance to ofloxacin and other fluoroquinolone derivatives, in case of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, with epilepsy, tendon lesions, and a decrease in the seizure threshold. In addition, you can not take the drug “Ofloxacin” for pregnant and lactating women, children under the age of eighteen. With caution, the drug is prescribed for circulatory disorders in the brain, cerebral arteriosclerosis, chronic renal failure, organic lesions of the central nervous system.
Ofloxacin medication for ureaplasma. Reviews
The main thing that people who use the drug note is its quick effect. Patients report that the result becomes noticeable already on the third or fourth day. But it is worth warning that this does not mean the onset of cure. Those patients who stopped drinking the tablets without completing the full course, then again experienced the symptoms of ureaplasmosis, because the bacteria were not completely eliminated.
special instructions
With pneumonia provoked by pneumococci, the medicine is ineffective. Also, it is not indicated for the treatment of acute tonsillitis. It is necessary to cancel the drug if allergic reactions, central nervous system disorders, and pseudomembranous colitis occur during administration . Women who use Ofloxacin are not recommended to use tampons, since in this case there is an increased risk of thrush.