Safety profile of antimicrobial agents

Many antibiotics have been developed and used for the treatment of infectious diseases. Although they have been known to have various adverse effects, most of the mechanisms remain still unknown. New quinolones are well known to induce convulsions and their convulsant activity enhanced by concurrent administration of anti-inflammatory drugs. Each new quinolone has an individual convulsant activity with individual drug-interaction with anti-inflammatory drugs. And enoxacin, lomefloxacin and gatifloxacin have been reported to decrease blood glucose levels in a dose-depend- ent manner, but ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin had no effect on the levels. It should be important to know the safety profile of antimicrobial agents before doctors administer these agents to the patients with infectious diseases.