Fluoroquinolone therapy in multiple-drug resistant staphylococcal keratitis after lamellar keratectomy in a rabbit model

• Published in: American journal of ophthalmology 2003-07, Vol.136 (1), p.76-81
• Main Authors: Tungsiripat, Tulaya, Sarayba, Melvin A, Kaufman, Matthew B, Sweet, Paula M, Taban, Mehran, Carpenter, Thomas R, McDonnell, Peter J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Infective Agents - therapeutic use; Antibiotics; Bacteria; Biological and medical sciences; Ciprofloxacin - therapeutic use; Colleges & universities; Colony Count, Microbial; Corneal Stroma - microbiology; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; Eye; Eye Infections, Bacterial - drug therapy; Eye Infections, Bacterial - microbiology; Fluoroquinolones; Gatifloxacin; Gram-positive bacteria; Health sciences; Immunization; Keratitis - drug therapy; Keratitis - microbiology; Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ - adverse effects; Laboratory animals; Levofloxacin; Medical sciences; Ofloxacin - therapeutic use; Organisms; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Rabbits; Staphylococcal Infections - drug therapy; Staphylococcal Infections - microbiology; Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; Staphylococcus aureus - isolation & purification; Staphylococcus aureus - physiology; Staphylococcus infections; Surgery; Surgical Flaps - microbiology
• ISSN: 0002-9394; 1879-1891
• DOI: 10.1016/S0002-9394(02)02280-8

To assess the effectiveness of a fourth-generation fluoroquinolone for prophylaxis against multiple drug-resistant staphylococcal keratitis after lamellar keratectomy in a rabbit model. Experimental study. Twenty-eight New Zealand white rabbits underwent unilateral lamellar keratectomy using a manual microkeratome followed by the placement of 1,000 colony-forming units (CFUs) of log-phase Staphylococcus aureus bacteria under each flap. Eyes (seven in each group) were randomized and treated with one of the following agents: sterile balanced salt solution, gatifloxacin (0.3%), ciprofloxacin (0.3%) or levofloxacin (0.5%) immediately and 6, 12, and 18 hours after surgery. Inflammation was graded by two masked observers at 24 and 48 hours, and the presence or absence of infectious infiltrates was determined. The means and standard deviations were calculated, and differences among the groups were statistically analyzed. There were no flap complications encountered during surgery. Eyes treated with ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and balanced salt solution developed infectious infiltrates in five of seven eyes per group. Gatifloxacin-treated eyes did not develop clinical infection and exhibited lower mean inflammation scores (P < .01 compared with the other groups). The fourth-generation fluoroquinolone, gatifloxacin, is an effective prophylaxis against the development of keratitis after lamellar keratectomy in rabbits with an organism resistant to methicillin, levofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin.