Quinolone Antibiotics - Generations

Generations

Researchers divide the quinolones into generations based on their antibacterial spectrum. The earlier-generation agents are, in general, more narrow-spectrum than the later ones, but no standard is employed to determine which drug belongs to which generation. The only universal standard applied is the grouping of the nonfluorinated drugs found within this class (quinolones) within the 'first-generation' heading. As such, a wide variation exists within the literature dependent upon the methods employed by the authors.

  • Some researchers group these drugs by patent dates
  • Some by a specific decade (i.e., '60s, '70s, '80s, etc.)
  • Others by the various structural changes

The first generation is rarely used today. Nalidixic acid was added to the OEHHA Prop 65 list as a carcinogen on 15 May 1998. A number of the second-, third-, and fourth-generation drugs have been removed from clinical practice due to severe toxicity issues or discontinued by their manufacturers. The drugs most frequently prescribed today consist of Avelox (moxifloxacin), Cipro (ciprofloxacin), Levaquin (levofloxacin), and, to some extent, their generic equivalents.

Read more about this topic:  Quinolone Antibiotics

Famous quotes containing the word generations:

    “Before I had my first child, I never really looked forward in anticipation to the future. As I watched my son grow and learn, I began to imagine the world this generation of children would live in. I thought of the children they would have, and of their children. I felt connected to life both before my time and beyond it. Children are our link to future generations that we will never see.”
    —Louise Hart (20th century)

    “The community and family networks which helped sustain earlier generations have become scarcer for growing numbers of young parents. Those who lack links to these traditional sources of support are hard-pressed to find other resources, given the emphasis in our society on providing treatment services, rather than preventive services and support for health maintenance and well-being.”
    —Bernice Weissbourd (20th century)

    “Why should the generations overlap one another at all? Why cannot we be buried as eggs in neat little cells with ten or twenty thousand pounds each wrapped round us in Bank of England notes, and wake up, as the Sphinx wasp does, to find that its papa and mamma have not only left ample provision at its elbow but have been eaten by sparrows some weeks before we began to live consciously on our own accounts?”
    —Samuel Butler (1835–1902)