The clinical evaluation of 2-acetylamino-5-nitro-thiazole, an orally effective trichomonacide

Routine examination of vaginal smears by the culture method of Kupferberg, Johnson, and Sprince showed that 31.6 per cent of gynecologic clinic patients harbored Trichomonas vaginalis. Twenty per cent of pregnant patients were found to be infected when the same diagnostic technique was used. About 60 per cent of these patients had symptoms attributable to the disease. A potent trichomonacidal agent, 2-acetylamino-5-nitrothiazole, was shown to be effective when administered orally. The parasites were eradicated in 35 per cent of infected patients regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms when the drug was administered in a daily dose of 300 mg. as enteric-coated tablets for a period of seven to ten days. With dosages exceeding 450 mg. per day, side reactions such as anorexia, abdominal cramps, nausea, and dark discoloration of the urine became pronounced without a corresponding rise in the parasitologic cure rate. There was no demonstrable change in the hemograms of these patients during and after therapy. Evidence has been presented that T. vaginalis can be cradicated by the systemic action of a new trichomonacidal agent.