This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Moody, K D Articles by Barthold, S W Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Moody, K D Articles by Barthold, S W

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1994 July; 38(7): 1567-1572

Effectiveness of antimicrobial treatment against Borrelia burgdorferi infection in mice.

K D Moody, R L Adams and S W Barthold

Section of Comparative Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.

ABSTRACT

Although antimicrobial agents are effective therapy for early Lyme disease, optimal treatment schedules have not been conclusively established. The efficacy of various dosages of eight antibiotics used for borreliosis treatment was evaluated for C3H/HeNCrIBR mice, which reproducibly develop persistent infection, arthritis, and carditis when inoculated with Borrelia burgdorferi. Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ceftriaxone, and high-dose penicillin G effectively eliminated infection and disease. Oxytetracycline, doxycycline, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, and azithromycin failed to cure infected mice. There was a correlation between peak serum antibiotic concentrations in mice, as determined by agar well diffusion bioassays, and therapeutic levels in humans. When experimentally inoculated mice were treated at 1 week postinfection with ceftriaxone (16 mg/kg of body weight twice daily for 5 days) and monitored for up to 90 days, all treated mice were free of spirochetes and had no gross or histologic lesions. This antibiotic regimen at days 7 to 11 postinoculation eliminated the spirochetes so that there were no relapses during the 90-day observation period. For experimentally inoculated mice treated with ceftriaxone at 7 or 14 days postinfection, arthritis, carditis, and infection were eliminated. When treatment began at 30 and 90 days after inoculation, infection and active cardiac and arthritic lesions were eradicated; however, residual mild synovitis and vasculitis persisted in some mice. In comparison with inoculated, untreated mice, ceftriaxone therapy at 7, 14, 30, and 90 days postinfection abrogated the development of antibody titers against B. burgdorferi. Having the potential to determine the presence of the spirochete through culture and histologic lesions makes the B. burgdorferi-inoculated C3H mouse model a valuable adjunct in evaluating chemotherapeutic options for Lyme disease.

---

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1994 July; 38(7): 1567-1572

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Wormser, G. P., Schwartz, I. (2009). Antibiotic Treatment of Animals Infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 22: 387-395 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Yang, X., Nguyen, A., Qiu, D., Luft, B. J. (2009). In vitro activity of tigecycline against multiple strains of Borrelia burgdorferi. J Antimicrob Chemother 63: 709-712 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Battisti, J. M., Bono, J. L., Rosa, P. A., Schrumpf, M. E., Schwan, T. G., Policastro, P. F. (2008). Outer Surface Protein A Protects Lyme Disease Spirochetes from Acquired Host Immunity in the Tick Vector. Infect. Immun. 76: 5228-5237 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hodzic, E., Feng, S., Holden, K., Freet, K. J., Barthold, S. W. (2008). Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi following Antibiotic Treatment in Mice. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 1728-1736 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Iliopoulou, B. P., Alroy, J., Huber, B. T. (2007). CD28 Deficiency Exacerbates Joint Inflammation upon Borrelia burgdorferi Infection, Resulting in the Development of Chronic Lyme Arthritis. J. Immunol. 179: 8076-8082 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pavia, C., Inchiosa, M. A. Jr, Wormser, G. P. (2002). Efficacy of Short-Course Ceftriaxone Therapy for Borrelia burgdorferi Infection in C3H Mice. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 46: 132-134 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pavia, C. S., Wormser, G. P., Nowakowski, J., Cacciapuoti, A. (2001). Efficacy of an Evernimicin (SCH27899) In Vitro and in an Animal Model of Lyme Disease. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 45: 936-937 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Shang, E. S., Champion, C. I., Wu, X.-Y., Skare, J. T., Blanco, D. R., Miller, J. N., Lovett, M. A. (2000). Comparison of Protection in Rabbits against Host-Adapted and Cultivated Borrelia burgdorferi following Infection-Derived Immunity or Immunization with Outer Membrane Vesicles or Outer Surface Protein A. Infect. Immun. 68: 4189-4199 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Barthold, S. W. (1999). Specificity of Infection-Induced Immunity among Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Species. Infect. Immun. 67: 36-42 [Abstract] [Full Text]