title: A model of infected burn wounds using Escherichia coli O18:K1:H7 for the study of gram-negative bacteremia and sepsis.
abstract: A difficulty that has emerged in the development and preclinical evaluation of adjuvant therapies for gram-negative sepsis is the lack of easily studied animal models that closely mimic human infection. An objective of this study was to adapt a previously described model of infection in burned mice to rats with a defined bacterial strain of Escherichia coli. Challenge with two colonies of live E. coli O18:K1:H7 bacteria into an 8% full-thickness burn of the dorsal skin surface of rats produced predictable bacteremia at 24 to 48 h and 80 to 100% mortality at 3 to 4 days. E. coli O18:K1:H7 was approximately 10-million-fold more virulent than several other gram-negative bacterial strains. The model should be a useful tool in studying the pathogenicity of burn wound infections and in evaluating the efficacy of novel adjuvant therapies for gram-negative sepsis.
authors.affiliation: Center for Engineering in Medicine and Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Zanzot
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Loiselle
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Allaire
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Yarmush
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Warren
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014946:Wound Infection / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality