Quinolone antibiotics, first developed in the 1960s, kill bacteria by blocking enzymes called class II topoisomerases involved in DNA replication. Later in the 1980s fluorine atoms were added to the quinolones’ structures and hence the name Fluoroquinolones (FQs), to improve tissue penetration into hard to reach areas including the CNS and boost effectiveness against a broad range of bacterial infection.
Fluoroquinolones including ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, delafloxacin, gemifloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, are highly effective and safe antibiotics to most patients. However, for a minority (possibly having a genetic variant for poor quinolone metabolism) it causes a persistent and disabling neurological and musculoskeletal . . .
Please Subscribe to continue reading
