A therapeutic study comparing the association of rifampin, ofloxacin and minocycline with the association of rifampin, clofazimine and dapsone in multibacillary leprosy patients

Abstract

Two therapeutic schemes for multibacillary leprosy patients were compared. The control group with 14 patients received the conventional treatment (MDT-MB). The test group with 12 patients, received the association rifampin 600 mg, ofloxacin 400 mg and minocycline 100 mg (ROM), administrated under supervision once a month, during 2 years. Initial evaluations include clinical, bacilloscopic and histological exams. Bacilloscopy and the biopsy were repeated at the end of first and second year of treatment. Clinical evaluations were performed monthly. All patients presented skin lesions characteristic of the lepromatous type. In the control group, the bacterial index (BI) before treatment ranged from 2 to 4.8 and in the test group it ranged from 1.6 to 4.8. Histological picture resembled active lepromatous leprosy, except one patient from the test group. At the end of the first year of treatment all patients showed clinical improvement, decreased BI and regressive histological picture. This tendency was maintained and at a final evaluation at the end of the second year all patients showed improvement on clinical, bacilloscopic and histological evaluations. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences between the groups, therefore, the two schemes were similar. In the control group all patients presented skin pigmentation after clofazimine intake. The results demonstrated that monthly administration of ROM is as efficacious and safe as MDT-MB. Besides, it doesn't cause skin pigmentation, it can be given under supervision and can be used as alternative scheme.