The Suppressive Effect of Antimicrobial Drugs on Brucella Melitensis Infection in Mice

Abstract

Summary The results of treatment of an experimental infection in black mice due to Brucella melitensis with a number of antimicrobial drugs, alone and in combination, have been detailed. Among the single drugs tested, aureomycin and terramycin provided approximately equal suppression of the infection, whereas chloramphenicol, neomycin, and combined therapy with streptomycin and sulfadiazine did not significantly influence the extent of the infection as compared to that seen in the untreated animals. The combination of streptomycin with aureomycin, chloramphenicol, or terramycin, however, definitely enhanced the antibrucellar effects of the latter drugs. A combination of aureomycin and streptomycin proved to be the most effective-type of treatment in this study, although complete eradication of brucellae and suppression of the lesions of brucellosis was not achieved with any of the regimens tested. While the results of treatment of experimental infections in animals cannot be transferred directly to the treatment of infections in man, this study provides additional evidence to support the further use of combinations of antibacterial drugs in human brucellosis.