Abstract

Gentamicin was shown to be a highly active inhibitor of growth of clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other mycobacteria in vitro. Activity was independent of susceptibility or resistance of the microorganisms to commonly used antituberculous agents. At a comparable dosage, gentamicin was weakly tuberculostatic and less efficacious than streptomycin in treatment of mice infected with M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Since gentamicin possesses antituberculous activity, administration of the drug to patients for other purposes may possibly impede recovery of mycobacteria from clinical specimens. Further investigation of the antituberculous activity of gentamicin appears warranted.

This content is only available as a PDF.
You do not currently have access to this article.