Antituberculosis activity of ofloxacin (DL 8280) on experimental tuberculosis in mice.

Ofloxacin (DL 8280) is rapidly eliminated from mouse organs. It disappears quickly from the lungs and the spleen and more slowly from the liver and the kidneys. The antituberculosis activity of this agent was shown in mice when the agent was given intraperitoneally at daily doses of 1 mg per mouse (approximately 42 mg/kg). The number of viable bacteria of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv contained in the liver decreased markedly in the mice treated with ofloxacin, and the inhibitory effect of the agent seemed to appear when the tubercle bacilli actively multiplied.