title: 19F magnetic resonance imaging of perfluorocarbons for the evaluation of response to antibiotic therapy in a Staphylococcus aureus infection model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in recent decades has highlighted the importance of developing new drugs to treat infections. However, in addition to the design of new drugs, the development of accurate preclinical testing methods is essential. In vivo imaging technologies such as bioluminescence imaging (BLI) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are promising approaches. In a previous study, we showed the effectiveness of (19)F MRI using perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsions for detecting the site of Staphylococcus aureus infection. In the present follow-up study, we investigated the use of this method for in vivo visualization of the effects of antibiotic therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mice were infected with S. aureus Xen29 and treated with 0.9% NaCl solution, vancomycin or linezolid. Mock treatment led to the highest bioluminescence values during infection followed by vancomycin treatment. Counting the number of colony-forming units (cfu) at 7 days post-infection (p.i.) showed the highest bacterial burden for the mock group and the lowest for the linezolid group. Administration of PFCs at day 2 p.i. led to the accumulation of (19)F at the rim of the abscess in all mice (in the shape of a hollow sphere), and antibiotic treatment decreased the (19)F signal intensity and volume. Linezolid showed the strongest effect. The BLI, cfu, and MRI results were comparable.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  (19)F-MRI with PFCs is an effective non-invasive method for assessing the effects of antibiotic therapy in vivo. This method does not depend on pathogen specific markers and can therefore be used to estimate the efficacy of antibacterial therapy against a broad range of clinically relevant pathogens, and to localize sites of infection.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Infection Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hertlein
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sturm
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jakob
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohlsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005461:Fluorine; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D051379:Mice; D009132:Muscles / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects*; D013848:Thigh / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D005461:Fluorine