skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Quinolone therapy of Klebsiella pneumoniae sepsis following irradiation: Comparison of pefloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and ofloxacin

Journal Article · · Radiation Research; (USA)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/3577609· OSTI ID:6867826
; ;  [1]
  1. Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Bethesda, MD (USA)

Exposure to whole-body irradiation is associated with fatal gram-negative sepsis. The effect of oral therapy with three quinolones, pefloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and ofloxacin, for orally acquired Klebsiella pneumoniae infection was tested in B6D2F1 mice exposed to 8.0 Gy whole-body irradiation from bilaterally positioned 60Co sources. A dose of 10(8) organisms was given orally 2 days after irradiation, and therapy was started 1 day later. Quinolones reduced colonization of the ileum with K. pneumoniae: 16 of 28 (57%) untreated mice harbored the organisms, compared to only 12 of 90 (13%) mice treated with quinolones (P less than 0.005). K. pneumoniae was isolated from the livers of 6 of 28 untreated mice, compared to only 1 of 90 treated mice (P less than 0.001). Only 5 of 20 (25%) untreated mice survived for at least 30 days compared with 17 of 20 (85%) mice treated with ofloxacin, 15 of 20 (75%) mice treated with pefloxacin, and 14 of 20 (70%) treated with ciprofloxacin (P less than 0.05). These data illustrate the efficacy of quinolones for oral therapy of orally acquired K. pneumoniae infection in irradiated hosts.

OSTI ID:
6867826
Journal Information:
Radiation Research; (USA), Vol. 122:2; ISSN 0033-7587
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records