Two-year combination antibiotic therapy with clarithromycin, rifabutin, and clofazimine for Crohn's disease.

Background & Aims: Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis has been proposed as a cause of Crohn's disease. We report a prospective, parallel, placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial of 2 years of clarithromycin, rifabutin, and clofazimine in active Crohn's disease, with a further year of follow-up.

Methods: Two hundred thirteen patients were randomized to clarithromycin 750 mg/day, rifabutin 450 mg/day, clofazimine 50 mg/day or placebo, in addition to a 16-week tapering course of prednisolone.

EFFECT OF GROWTH CONDITIONS ON NADPH-SPECIFIC GLUTAMATE DEHYDROGENASE ACTIVITY OF EUGLENA GRACILIS.

Cells of Euglena gracilis Klebs, strain z Pringsheim, had high NADPH-glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activity when grown on glutamate but activity was repressed completely in cells grown on ammonium (NH ). Subcellular fractionation showed that NADPH-GDH activity was located exclusively in the cytosol, while glutamine synthetase was present in the cytosol and chloroplasts. Despite high NADPH-GDH activity NH assimilation was completely inhibited by methionine sulphoximine (MSO), an inhibitor of glutamine synthetase.