An eye for azithromycin: review of the literature

Azithromycin is used widely in clinical practice and recently it is available in topical solution for ophthalmic use. The purpose of the current publication is to summarize the newest information on azithromycin’s clinical usefulness over ocular diseases. A PubMed (National Library of Medicine) and...

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Main Authors: Kostas A. Kagkelaris, Olga E. Makri, Constantine D. Georgakopoulos, George D. Panayiotakopoulos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2018-07-01
Series:Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2515841418783622
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spelling doaj-8e2b8658f4644e23a2445d3ca7b566132020-11-25T03:32:21ZengSAGE PublishingTherapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology2515-84142018-07-011010.1177/2515841418783622An eye for azithromycin: review of the literatureKostas A. KagkelarisOlga E. MakriConstantine D. GeorgakopoulosGeorge D. PanayiotakopoulosAzithromycin is used widely in clinical practice and recently it is available in topical solution for ophthalmic use. The purpose of the current publication is to summarize the newest information on azithromycin’s clinical usefulness over ocular diseases. A PubMed (National Library of Medicine) and a ScienceDirect search was conducted using the key phrases ‘azithromycin’, ‘meibomian’, ‘blepharitis’, ‘trachoma’, ‘toxoplasmosis’ from 2010 to 2017. Articles were limited to articles published in English or at least having an English abstract. There were no restrictions on age, ethnicity, or geographic locations of patients. Topical azithromycin was found effective and safe in various ocular surface infections, in meibomian gland dysfunction and in trachoma. Also, it may substitute fluoroquinolones in corneal UV cross-linking. The World Health Organization targets for trachoma elimination are being reached only after 3 years of annual mass drug administration. Oral azithromycin can participate in combination regiments for toxoplasmosis, mainly because of its very good safety profile and may play a significant role in toxoplasmosis in pregnancy. Azithromycin is one of the safest antibiotics, well tolerated, and with special pharmacokinetic properties. Also, it is characterized by a broad antimicrobial spectrum. Azithromycin is efficacious for the treatment of a lot of ocular diseases and may be included as monotherapy or in combination therapy in new treatment protocols for more ocular infections. However, more research is needed to determine this.https://doi.org/10.1177/2515841418783622
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Kostas A. Kagkelaris
Olga E. Makri
Constantine D. Georgakopoulos
George D. Panayiotakopoulos
spellingShingle Kostas A. Kagkelaris
Olga E. Makri
Constantine D. Georgakopoulos
George D. Panayiotakopoulos
An eye for azithromycin: review of the literature
Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology
author_facet Kostas A. Kagkelaris
Olga E. Makri
Constantine D. Georgakopoulos
George D. Panayiotakopoulos
author_sort Kostas A. Kagkelaris
title An eye for azithromycin: review of the literature
title_short An eye for azithromycin: review of the literature
title_full An eye for azithromycin: review of the literature
title_fullStr An eye for azithromycin: review of the literature
title_full_unstemmed An eye for azithromycin: review of the literature
title_sort eye for azithromycin: review of the literature
publisher SAGE Publishing
series Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology
issn 2515-8414
publishDate 2018-07-01
description Azithromycin is used widely in clinical practice and recently it is available in topical solution for ophthalmic use. The purpose of the current publication is to summarize the newest information on azithromycin’s clinical usefulness over ocular diseases. A PubMed (National Library of Medicine) and a ScienceDirect search was conducted using the key phrases ‘azithromycin’, ‘meibomian’, ‘blepharitis’, ‘trachoma’, ‘toxoplasmosis’ from 2010 to 2017. Articles were limited to articles published in English or at least having an English abstract. There were no restrictions on age, ethnicity, or geographic locations of patients. Topical azithromycin was found effective and safe in various ocular surface infections, in meibomian gland dysfunction and in trachoma. Also, it may substitute fluoroquinolones in corneal UV cross-linking. The World Health Organization targets for trachoma elimination are being reached only after 3 years of annual mass drug administration. Oral azithromycin can participate in combination regiments for toxoplasmosis, mainly because of its very good safety profile and may play a significant role in toxoplasmosis in pregnancy. Azithromycin is one of the safest antibiotics, well tolerated, and with special pharmacokinetic properties. Also, it is characterized by a broad antimicrobial spectrum. Azithromycin is efficacious for the treatment of a lot of ocular diseases and may be included as monotherapy or in combination therapy in new treatment protocols for more ocular infections. However, more research is needed to determine this.
url https://doi.org/10.1177/2515841418783622
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