Chemotherapeutic trials and their assessments

Abstract

The well established methods for the conduct and assessment of chemotherapeutic trials in leprosy have more recently been enhanced by the inclusion of the mouse footpad infection. Examples are provided of the use of this infection as a more sensitive method for the assessment of new drugs, their speed of action and the detection of persister viable organisms and the emergence of drug resistant bacilli. The importance of these results in relation to the value of short term trials in the initial assessment of a new antileprosy drug and the necessity of very long term trials in the final assessment of a new drug or new drug regimen in the treatment of lepromatous leprosy are discussed.