title: Severe autogenously fecal peritonitis in ageing Wistar rats. Response to intravenous meropenem.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the treatment outcome of severe peritonitis in rats with increasing age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty Wistar rats stratified in three groups: group I - six month-old; group II - 12 month-old; and group III - 18 month-old, underwent autogenously fecal peritonitis (6 ml/kg rat), and were treated with intravenous meropenem. The survival animals were followed-up for 45 days. The variables were expressed by their mean and standard error of the mean (SEM). p<0.05 was used for rejecting the null hypothesis. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant increase in the mortality and morbidity in elderly rats. Of interest, even among young survival rats presenting with severe residual abscesses both in the abdomen and thorax cavities, they present an almost normal life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The treatment of severe autogenously fecal peritonitis with intravenous meropenem reached reasonable results in rats with six and twelve months of age, even considering residual abscesses on abdomen and thorax cavities. However, the great majority (80%) of elderly rats could not overcome the initial severe infectious challenge, proving that ageing is a very important risk factor for impairing immune response. Thus, sepsis remains a challenging situation, especially in elderly.
authors.affiliation: Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil.
authors.forename: Guilherme Veras
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Mascena
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, UFPE, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Cecília Santos Cavalcanti
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.affiliation: Health Sciences Center, UFPE, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil.
authors.forename: Diego Nery Benevides
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Gadelha
authors.affiliation: Health Sciences Center, UFPE, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thárcia Kiara Beserra
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: UFPE, Recife, PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Carlos Teixeira
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Brandt
mesh_terms: D061605:Administration, Intravenous; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005243:Feces; D000077731:Meropenem; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D018805:Sepsis / Q000188:drug therapy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013845:Thienamycins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D013845:Thienamycins; D000077731:Meropenem