Fluoroquinolone drugs are frequently and globally prescribed as a measure to cure bacterial infections in humans and animals. There is an extensive list of drugs in this class, but the most familiar are name brands Cipro, Levaquin (now off market), Avelox, and their generics ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and moxifloxacin. These antibiotics have shown to inhibit DNA replication much like chemotherapy. Since May 12, 2016, The Food & Drug Administration advises that fluoroquinolone antibiotics should be reserved for medical conditions only when no other options exist. In FDA and European Medicines Agency black box warnings over the last few years, they have indicated fluoroquinolones have been associated with disabling and potentially irreversible, serious adverse reactions within different body systems that can occur simultaneously to cause damage affecting: central nervous system, musculoskeletal, visual and renal systems; tendon disorders and spontaneous ruptures; systemic peripheral neuropathy; psychosis; aortic aneurysm; diabetes/hypoglycemia; hepatotoxicity; cytochrome P450 (CYP450).
Scientific work from Finland indicates the potential of permanent mitochondria damage[1]. Mitochondrial dysfunction carries with it an extensive list of illnesses ranging from chronic fatigue to serious disease such as dementia, Parkinson's and cancers to name just a few. As noted in what we consider one of the most important fluoroquinolone studies ever done, the Finnish abstract states:
"Maintenance of topological homeostasis is vital for gene expression and genome replication in all organisms. Similar to other circular genomes, also mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is known to exist in various different topological forms, although their functional significance remains unknown. We report here that both known type II topoisomerases Top2α and Top2β are present in mammalian mitochondria, with especially Top2β regulating the supercoiling state of mtDNA. Loss of Top2β or its inhibition by ciprofloxacin results in accumulation of positively supercoiled mtDNA, followed by cessation of mitochondrial transcription and replication initiation, causing depletion of mtDNA copy number. These mitochondrial effects block both cell proliferation and differentiation, possibly explaining some of the side effects associated with fluoroquinolone antibiotics. Our results show for the first time the importance of topology for maintenance of mtDNA homeostasis and provide novel insight into the mitochondrial effects of fluoroquinolones."
Overuse of these potent antibiotics for conditions like sinus, urinary tract and ear infections has been linked to the development of antibiotic resistant infections, which will result in the dire inability to treat emerging bacterial mutations. Most people are unaware that fluoroquinolones are used in surgical procedures via IV, Lasik, cataract surgery, and given for prophylactic measures. The general population and medical community also remain largely uninformed of the growing global epidemic of people experiencing severe ADR’s (adverse drug reaction) in conjunction with extensive, simultaneous medical issues which receive inaccurate or no proper diagnosis.
[1] Hangas et al. 12 October 2018. Ciprofloxacin impairs mitochondrial DNA replication initiation through inhibition of Topoisomerase 2. Nucleic Acids Research, Volume 46, Issue 18. Anu Hangas, Koit Aasumets, Nina J Kekäläinen, Mika Paloheinä, Jaakko L Pohjoismäki, Joachim M Gerhold, Steffi Goffart. https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/46/18/9625/5088042
The CDC has approved new ICD-10 medical billing codes for "Fluoroquinolone Adverse Effects", effective October 2025. The exact codes will be provided by the CDC at that time. For updates, please check back here or follow us on Facebook and Twitter (X).
Scientific community: please see our research, thousands of publications in our library, and the most important studies regarding fluoroquinolones.
If you have been adversely affected by a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, to learn more, view the toxicity warnings, see the entire list of medication names in all their forms and visit our help page.
Medical community: please see thousands of publications in our library, FDA Black Box warnings, and an example of patient diagnostic criteria.
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