title: Single-dose oral amoxicillin or linezolid for prophylaxis of experimental endocarditis due to vancomycin-susceptible and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis.
abstract: Endocarditis prophylaxis following genitourinary or gastrointestinal procedures targets Enterococcus faecalis. Prophylaxis recommendations advocate oral amoxicillin (2 g in the United States and 3 g in the United Kingdom) in moderate-risk patients and intravenous amoxicillin (2 g) or vancomycin (1 g) plus gentamicin in high-risk patients. While ampicillin-resistant (or amoxicillin-resistant) E. faecalis is still rare, there is a concern that these regimens might fail against vancomycin-resistant and/or aminoglycoside-resistant isolates. The present study tested oral linezolid as an alternative. Rats with catheter-induced aortic vegetations were given prophylaxis simulating human pharmacokinetics of oral amoxicillin (2- to 3-g single dose), oral linezolid (600 mg, single or multiple oral doses every 12 h), or intravenous vancomycin (1-g single dose). Rats were then inoculated with the minimum inoculum infecting 90% of the animals (90% infective dose [ID(90)]) or with 10 times the ID(90) of the vancomycin-susceptible E. faecalis strain JH2-2 or the vancomycin-resistant (VanA phenotype) E. faecalis strain UCN41. Amoxicillin was also tested with two additional vancomycin-susceptible E. faecalis strains, 309 and 1209. Animals were sacrificed 3 days later. All the tested bacteria were susceptible to amoxicillin and gentamicin. Single-dose amoxicillin provided 100% protection against all four isolates at both the ID(90) and 10 times the ID(90). In contrast, linezolid required up to four consecutive doses to provide full protection against the vancomycin-resistant isolate. Vancomycin protected only against the vancomycin-susceptible strain. The high efficacy of single-dose oral amoxicillin suggests that this regimen could be used for prophylaxis in both moderate-risk and high-risk patients without additional aminoglycosides. Linezolid appears to be less reliable, at least against the vancomycin-resistant strain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Biophore Building, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moreillon
authors.forename: Walter R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leclercq
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Entenza
mesh_terms: D000081:Acetamides / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000658:Amoxicillin / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D000069349:Linezolid; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D023303:Oxazolidinones / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance
chemical_list: D000081:Acetamides; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D023303:Oxazolidinones; D000658:Amoxicillin; D000069349:Linezolid