Moxifloxacin is an effective and safe candidate agent for tuberculosis treatment: a meta-analysis

- Moxifloxacin improves the clinical outcome of tuberculosis treatment.
- Moxifloxacin significantly increases the sputum culture conversion rate.
- Moxifloxacin significantly reduces tuberculosis recurrence after treatment.
- Moxifloxacin will not cause more adverse events during tuberculosis treatment.

SummaryBackgroundTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of the introduction of moxifloxacin into the recommended regimen for tuberculosis (TB) treatment.MethodsA meta-analysis was performed of nine eligible studies regarding the effect of moxifloxacin plus the recommended regimen compared to the recommended regimen alone for the treatment of TB.ResultsIn the efficacy analysis, the overall odds ratio (OR) for sputum culture conversion was 1.895 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.355-2.651, p = 0.000), indicating that when moxifloxacin is combined with the recommended regimen, the rate of sputum culture conversion is elevated compared to the recommended regimen alone. The overall OR for recurrence was 0.516 (95% CI 0.342-0.920, p = 0.022), suggesting that the introduction of moxifloxacin into the recommended regimen reduces TB relapse after treatment. In the safety analysis, the overall OR was estimated to be 1.001 (95% CI 0.855-1.172, p = 0.989), demonstrating that adding moxifloxacin to the recommended regimen does not cause more adverse events during TB treatment.ConclusionsThis meta-analysis suggests that the introduction of moxifloxacin into the recommended regimen for the treatment of non-drug resistant TB improves the clinical outcome by elevating the culture conversion rate and reducing the recurrence rate.