Fluoroquinolone

Fluoroquinolone antibiotics demonstrate excellent antimicrobial efficacy in various clinical field. Especially, levofloxacin and moxifloxacin could be used for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication. It could be used effectively for H. pylori eradication with fewer side effects. However, it shows rapid increase of resistance recently. The increase of resistance has become a significant limitation for providing effective eradication treatment result. The main antibacterial mechanism of fluoroquinolone is the interruption of DNA replication by interfering with DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV. Resistance of fluoroquinolone antibiotics was derived from the mutation of gyrA which encodes DNA gyrase A, especially point mutation of Asn-87. Novel fluoroquinolones show improved efficacy as to overcome the resistance caused by gyrA mutation. Epidemiologic study for point mutation of resistance gene might be helpful for the development of molecular diagnostic tool and novel fluoroquinolone agent. And further constitutional efforts are needed especially to devise more easier and effective fluoroquinolone-containing treatment regimen.