THE COMPARATIVE THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF SULFONAMIDES AGAINST BACTERIAL INFECTIONS IN MICE

The therapeutic activity of 33 typical derivatives of sulfanilamide against a streptococcus infection in mice has been compared. With the exception of sulfapyridine none of these derivatives was found to be significantly more active than sulfanilamide, while most of them were less active than the parent compound. On a pneumococcus infection, sulfapyridine, sulfathiazole, sulfadiazine, sulfamethyldiazine, sulfapyrazine and sulfaguanidine are all more active than sulfanilamide. There appears to be a definite specificity in the action of sulfanilamide derivatives on bacterial infections in mice. Although all compounds which were active in vivo were also active in vitro, there appears to be no quantitative relation between in vitro and in vivo activity.