Effectiveness of various antimicrobial agents against Mycobacterium avium complex in the beige mouse model.
The results of five chemotherapeutic experiments in beige mice infected with organisms of the Mycobacterium avium complex are presented. After monotherapy with various antimicrobial agents for 4 weeks, only clarithromycin, amikacin, and ethambutol displayed definite bactericidal effects; sparfloxacin and clofazimine showed modest bacteriostatic effects; and rifampin and rifabutin were totally inactive against the isolate tested. After treatment for 4 weeks, the large quantities of clofazimine that had accumulated in the organs of mice seriously interfered with the enumeration of the CFU and assessment of the efficacy of the treatment. The in vitro synergistic effects of drug combinations against M. avium complex were not confirmed in beige mice. In combination with clarithromycin, amikacin could prevent the selection of clarithromycin-resistant mutants, whereas minocycline could not.
Ji
B
B
Bactériologie et Virologie, Faculté de Médecine Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Lounis
N
N
Truffot-Pernot
C
C
Grosset
J
J
D000818:Animals; D000904:Antibiotics, Antitubercular / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009162:Mycobacterium avium / Q000187:drug effects*; D013154:Spleen / Q000187:drug effects; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000904:Antibiotics, Antitubercular