Quinolone therapy of Klebsiella pneumoniae sepsis following irradiation: comparison of pefloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and ofloxacin.
Exposure to whole-body irradiation is associated with fatal gram-negative sepsis. The effect of oral therapy with three quinolones, pefloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and ofloxacin, for orally acquired Klebsiella pneumoniae infection was tested in B6D2F1 mice exposed to 8.0 Gy whole-body irradiation from bilaterally positioned 60Co sources. A dose of 10(8) organisms was given orally 2 days after irradiation, and therapy was started 1 day later. Quinolones reduced colonization of the ileum with K. pneumoniae: 16 of 28 (57%) untreated mice harbored the organisms, compared to only 12 of 90 (13%) mice treated with quinolones (P less than 0.005). K. pneumoniae was isolated from the livers of 6 of 28 untreated mice, compared to only 1 of 90 treated mice (P less than 0.001). Only 5 of 20 (25%) untreated mice survived for at least 30 days compared with 17 of 20 (85%) mice treated with ofloxacin, 15 of 20 (75%) mice treated with pefloxacin, and 14 of 20 (70%) treated with ciprofloxacin (P less than 0.05). These data illustrate the efficacy of quinolones for oral therapy of orally acquired K. pneumoniae infection in irradiated hosts.
Experimental Hematology Department, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
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I
Brook
T B
TB
Elliott
G D
GD
Ledney
D000818:Animals; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D007710:Klebsiella Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae; D051379:Mice; D015242:Ofloxacin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015366:Pefloxacin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011833:Radiation Injuries, Experimental / Q000150:complications*
D015366:Pefloxacin; D002939:Ciprofloxacin; D015242:Ofloxacin