A three year clinical evaluation of Dalacin in the treatment of lepromatous leprosy.

The Research Laboratories of the Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.A., have isolated a new antimicrobic complex pro­ duced under conditions of submerged fermentation by Streptomyces spectabilis, an Actinomycete isolated from a sample of soi! from Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. The laboratory designation of Antibiotic 10la bears the generic na me Streptovaricin and ha s subsequently been marketed under the trade name of Dalacin. Streptovaricin has been demonstrated to have a high degree of activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, both in vitro and in vivo, and it has also proved active in in vitro against a number of gram­ positive, gram-negative and saprophytic acid-fast bacteria. Under the same conditions of in vitro tests, Streptovaricin proved approximately 10 times as active as Streptomycin, 100 times as active as para-amino-salicylic acid, and half as active as isonzaiid. Streptovaricin proved highly effective in treating mice infected with M. tuberculosis (c37Rv). When the microbic enumeration tech­ nique was employed, Streptovaricin and isoniazid given together produced an anti-tuberculosis effect that was considerably greater than was achieved with either drug alone.I, 2, 3 4 ,