The effects of tilorone on mycobacterial infections of mice

Abstract

Tilorone (2,7-bis[2-diethylaminoethoxy]fluoren-9-one dihydrochloride), administered in a concentration of 0.05 g per 100 g in the mouse chow, was found to inhibit multiplication of Mycobacterium leprae in the mouse footpad. Infection was enhanced in mice inoculated with M. marinum or M. lepraemurium to which the drug was administered in the same dosage. Tilorone appears to have exerted an antimicrobial effect on M. leprae that outweighed the immunosuppressive effect of the drug on the mouse host.