chlortetracycline and Meningitis--Pneumococcal

Oral prophylactic medication with either procaine penicillin G or a mixture of chlortetracycline, sulphadimidine and procaine penicillin G reduced the incidence of streptococcal meningitis in a herd of pigs with a high recorded prevalence of the disease, but to a significant extent (P less than 0.01) only in those pigs receiving procaine penicillin G. Subsequent studies showed that after oral administration of procaine penicillin G, benzylpenicillin was detectable in plasma only at very low concentration and similar results were obtained using the potassium salt of penicillin G. However, phenoxymethyl penicillin administered orally provided high plasma concentrations of this drug. A further investigation demonstrated that despite the low plasma concentrations of penicillin after oral administration of the procaine salt, gastrointestinal and urinary concentrations of the drug were relatively high for up to five hours.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animal Feed; Animals; Chlortetracycline; Drug Combinations; Female; Meningitis, Pneumococcal; Penicillin G; Sulfamethazine; Swine; Swine Diseases

A technique for inducing pneumococcal meningitis in mice and a description of the histopathologic changes that accompany this experimentally produced disease are provided in the present report. This infection of mice was investigated to determine whether it could serve as a suitable model for detecting agents that have potential therapeutic utility in bacterial meningitis in man. 21 antibiotics, belonging to six major classes were evaluated for efficacy in the experimental infection. The three most active agents proved to be amoxicillin, cephaloridine, and chlortetracycline. Up to this time, amoxicillin has not been commercially available as an injectable dosage form. However, in view of the compound's outstanding efficacy in the present experiments, it would be desirable to investigate its effectiveness in the naturally occurring disease in man.

Topics: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Cephalosporins; Cerebellum; Cerebral Cortex; Chloramphenicol; Chlortetracycline; Demeclocycline; Disease Models, Animal; Erythromycin; Lincomycin; Male; Meningitis, Pneumococcal; Mice; Penicillins; Rolitetracycline; Streptococcus pneumoniae; Tetracycline; Virulence

Topics: Chlortetracycline; Meningitis; Meningitis, Pneumococcal; Penicillins; Pneumococcal Infections