The therapy of pulmonary tuberculosis and its complications by thiosemicarbazone.

Domagk is considered the pioneer of chemotherapy in tuberculosis with thiosemicarbazones. He studied, in cooperation with his collaborators, a large number of thiosemicarbazones developed by the chemists Behnisch, Mietzsch and Schmidt, has found that the 4-acetylaminobenzaldeydethiosemicarbazone was the most efficacious substance against the tubercle bacillus. This compound, according to Domagk’s researches on cultures of tubercle bacillus of the human type on egg culture medium containing paminobenzoic acid, exerts a marked inhibitory effect on the growth of tubercle bacillus at 1:300,000 solution, whereas streptomycin under the same conditions, shows an inhibition value at from 1:50,000 to 1:100,000 and PAS at 1:5,000. The in vivo effect has been confirmed by Domagk in experimental tuberculosis in guinea pigs and rabbits. The clinical application in humans of this drug began in Germany in 1947. Many thousands of patients suffering from various forms of pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis have been subjected to this treatment.