Chondrotoxicity of Ciprofloxacin in Immature Beagle Dogs

Quinolone-induced arthropathy was first described more than 2 decades ago in immature dogs.[1,2] However, the issue of quinolone-induced arthropathy is still discussed controversially with respect to its relevance to man. The vast majority of data on quinolone use in children and adolescents have derived from the use of ciprofloxacin in patients with cystic fibrosis.[3,4] Obviously, ciprofloxacin is rather well tolerated in juveniles, which is in contrast to the experience with other drugs of this group such as pefloxacin.[5,6] Since ciprofloxacin was not considered for treatment of juvenile patients when it was marketed in 1986, no detailed studies on the chondrotoxic effects of this compound have been published. Only summary data of the experiments performed by the manufacturer are available.[7] Because of the lack of data from studies in dogs with the most widely used quinolone, we decided to study the effects of ciprofloxacin in juvenile beagles by light and electron microscopy and to measure plasma drug concentrations during a 5-day treatment period.