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Drug therapy
Review
Azithromycin, Ureaplasma and chronic lung disease of prematurity: a case study for neonatal drug development
  1. Mark A Turner1,
  2. Evelyne Jacqz-Aigrain2,
  3. Sailesh Kotecha3
  1. 1Department of Women's and Children's Health, Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
  2. 2Pharmacologie Pédiatrique et Pharmacogénétique, Hôpital Robert Debré, Paris, France
  3. 3Department of Child Health, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
  1. Correspondence to Sailesh Kotecha, Department of Child Health, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK; KotechaS{at}cardiff.ac.uk

Abstract

Chronic lung disease of prematurity (CLD) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in preterm infants. Ureaplasma has received intermittent attention over the last two decades as a possible contributory factor. In addition, pulmonary inflammation is associated with the development of CLD. The macrolide azithromycin provides an attractive option to determine if it can decrease the development of CLD as it has both anti-inflammatory and anti-infective properties. In this article, the authors review the evidence for the role of Ureaplasma in the development of CLD and the obstacles faced in the development of a drug before it reaches clinical practice.

https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2010.195180

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    Footnotes

    • Funding The authors are part of the EU funded FP7 programme TINN2.

    • Competing interests None.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.