title: Partial liquid ventilation with perfluorocarbon in the treatment of rats with lethal pneumococcal pneumonia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Partial liquid ventilation with perfluorocarbon is a new therapeutic strategy to treat various lung disorders. The current study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of partial liquid ventilation with a perfluorocarbon (FC-77) in the treatment of pneumococcal pneumonia in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male Wistar rats (weight, 275-300 g; n, 75) were infected via direct intratracheal inoculation with ca 10(9) colony-forming units of viable Streptococcus pneumoniae, serotype 3, and 24 h after infection were placed into one of five groups, each containing 15 rats. The groups were (1) no treatment, (2) one intramuscular injection of penicillin G benzathine (200,000 U), (3) partial liquid ventilation with FC-77, (4) partial liquid ventilation with FC-77 and a single intramuscular dose of penicillin G benzathine (200,000 U), and (5) gas ventilation. Animals were observed every 24 h for survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All untreated or gas-ventilated animals or animals that received only partial liquid ventilation were dead by 7 days. Those receiving only partial liquid ventilation survived longer than untreated controls, but ultimately all succumbed by day 7. Survival was 40% for penicillin-treated rats compared with controls (P < 0.05) and 80% for animals treated with both partial liquid ventilation and penicillin versus antibiotic alone (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These observations suggest that partial liquid ventilation with perfluorocarbon in combination with antibiotic administration may be an effective therapeutic modality in pneumococcal pneumonia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester 01655, USA. Qkona@aol.com
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Dickson
authors.forename: S O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Heard
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fraire
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Brueggemann
authors.forename: G V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Doern
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D010400:Penicillin G / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011018:Pneumonia, Pneumococcal / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012121:Respiration, Artificial
chemical_list: D005466:Fluorocarbons; D010400:Penicillin G