Combination of Drugs Promising for Treatment of Toxoplasmosis

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Update
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Mon, y, July 20, 1992 Greg Folkers
1:00 p.m. (7:00 a.m. EDT) [phone]
Combination of Drugs Promising for Treatment of Toxoplasmosis
A combination of the drugs 566C80 and pyrimethamine shows promise in fighting
toxoplasmosis in people with AIDS, according to preliminary results of a small National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases study. Data from the same study suggest that a second
experimental treatment for patients with AIDS-related toxoplasmosis, azithromycin taken alone,
may be ineffective.
Joseph A. Kovacs, M.D., senior investigator at the NIAID/Clinical Center AIDS Program,
plans to present the findings in a poster session at the VI International Conference on AIDS in
Amsterdam from July 20 to 24.
Approximately 40 to 60 percent of AIDS patients with toxoplasmosis cannot tolerate the
side effects of the standard treatment, a combination of pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine.
"New therapies are needed urgently to combat toxoplasmosis, which afflicts up to a third
of all people with AIDS," says Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., NIAID director. "The combination of
566C80 and pyrimethamine has shown promise, both in animal studies and now in humans, but
wil require further evaluation to determine long-term benefits and side effects."
Toxoplasmosis is a life-threatening infection of the brain caused by a protozoan parasite.
Although 30 to 40 percent of the general adult population are infected with the parasite, those with
normal immune systems have few or no symptoms of the disease. In persons whose immune

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