Effect of parenteral antibiotic administration on persistence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium in the mouse gastrointestinal tract.
A mouse model of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) intestinal colonization was used to study the effect of different subcutaneous antibiotics on persistence and density of VRE colonization. Gastric inoculation of a clinical VanB VRE isolate, in conjunction with oral vancomycin in drinking water (250 microgram/mL), resulted in high-level VRE colonization (mean, 9.5 log10 cfu/g) in all 169 experimental mice. After discontinuation of oral vancomycin, the level of VRE in the stool specimens of mice receiving subcutaneous saline steadily decreased (mean, 3.59 log10 cfu/g at day 19). Subcutaneous vancomycin, clindamycin, piperacillin-tazobactam, ticarcillin-clavulanic acid, metronidazole, cefotetan, ampicillin, and ampicillin-sulbactam all promoted persistent high levels of stool VRE. Subcutaneous ceftriaxone, cefepime, ciprofloxacin, and aztreonam promoted increased VRE density to a lesser degree or not at all. Thus, in a mouse model, vancomycin and antibiotics with potent antianaerobic activity promoted persistent high-density intestinal VRE colonization, whereas antibiotics lacking potent antianaerobic activity did not.
Division of Infectious Diseases, Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
C J
CJ
Donskey
J A
JA
Hanrahan
R A
RA
Hutton
L B
LB
Rice
D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004064:Digestive System / Q000382:microbiology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D051379:Mice; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D014640:Vancomycin