tetracycline and Hepatitis--Animal

A 7-year-old female buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) from a local herd in Serres, northern Greece, was presented to a private veterinary clinic with a chronic loss of appetite for 15 days. The clinical examination revealed high fever (41.5 degrees C), lethargy, yellow discoloration of skin and mucous membranes, an abdomen that appeared to be empty, hyperactive rumen motility, and tachypnea. A biochemical profile revealed an elevated total bilirubin concentration and hepatic enzyme activities, whereas globulin, creatinine, and glucose concentrations were within the reference intervals. The animal received a 12-day course of treatment with intramuscular administration of ampicillin and corticosteroids. However, no significant clinical improvement was achieved, and the buffalo was euthanized. Gross necropsy lesions included serous atrophy of adipose tissue and hepatomegaly. Microscopic lesions included necrotizing pyogranulomatous hepatitis with thrombosis, hemorrhages, edema, and fibrosis. Small, nonpigmented, bacterial colonies were harvested in pure culture from the liver and were confirmed as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia by polymerase chain reaction. The bacterium was sensitive to ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, colistin, polymyxin, trimethoprim/sulfamethaxazole, and chloramphenicol. In contrast, resistance to ticarcillin, piperacillin, imipenem, ceftazidime, amikacin, gentamicin, tobramycin, and tetracycline was displayed. The bacterial strain carried the L1 metallo-beta-lactamase (L1) and tet35 genes, which contribute to high-level resistance to beta-lactams and tetracycline, respectively. Although S. maltophilia is widely believed to be a contaminant, the present report suggests that the isolation, identification, and susceptibility testing of this multidrug-resistant bacterium may be of clinical importance in diagnostic samples.

Topics: Adipose Tissue; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; beta-Lactams; Bilirubin; Buffaloes; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Euthanasia; Female; Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections; Greece; Hepatitis, Animal; Hepatomegaly; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Stenotrophomonas maltophilia; Tetracycline

An outbreak of chlamydiosis was diagnosed in hatchling and juvenile Indopacific crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) on a crocodile farm in Papua New Guinea. The outbreak was characterised by high mortality with hepatitis and exudative conjunctivitis. The agent appears to have been introduced with live wild-caught crocodiles, which are purchased routinely by the farm. Improved quarantine procedures and treatment with tetracycline led to a rapid reduction of losses on the farm.

Topics: Alligators and Crocodiles; Animals; Animals, Domestic; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Chlamydia; Chlamydia Infections; Conjunctivitis, Bacterial; Disease Outbreaks; Eggs; Female; Hepatitis, Animal; Male; Papua New Guinea; Quarantine; Tetracycline

The use of antibiotic combinations to prevent acute and progressive chronic hepatitis and proliferative typhlitis associated with Helicobacter hepaticus infection in male scid/NCr mice was evaluated. The drug combinations used were amoxicillin-metronidazole-bismuth, tetracycline-metronidazole-bismuth, amoxicillin-neomycin, neomycin alone, and amoxicillin alone. Treatments were administered per os for 14 days beginning at 4 weeks of age. All mice remained clinically normal throughout the study. Specimens from mice were evaluated histologically at 21, 60, 90, and 120 days after initiation of the antibiotic treatments. Results of histologic examination and use of special stains indicated that the antibiotic regimens containing amoxicillin prevented progressive chronic hepatitis and typhlitis. Helical bacteria were not observed histologically in the liver or cecum of amoxicillin-treated mice. Helical bacteria were observed in the liver and cecum of untreated mice and in the cecum of mice treated with antibiotic regimens not containing amoxicillin. Untreated mice and those treated with amoxicillin were evaluated by culture for presence of H. hepaticus at 60 and 90 days and by polymerase chain reaction at 90 days after initiation of the antibiotic treatment. All untreated mice were test-positive by fecal/cecal culture, and three of five were positive by polymerase chain reaction. All mice treated with amoxicillin were negative for H. hepaticus by results of culture and polymerase chain reaction. The oral administration of amoxicillin to young scid mice via the drinking water prevents hepatitis and typhlitis caused by H. hepaticus.

Topics: Amoxicillin; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bismuth; Cecal Diseases; Cecum; Chronic Disease; Helicobacter; Helicobacter Infections; Hepatitis, Animal; Inflammation; Liver; Male; Metronidazole; Mice; Mice, SCID; Neomycin; Rodent Diseases; Tetracycline

Pharmacotherapeutic efficacy of antihepatoxic tea was studied on an experimental model of tetracycline-induced hepatitis. It was concluded that the tea had a marked pharmacotherapeutic effect on the process of tetracycline-induced hepatitis in animals. It lowered the level of the cytolytic syndrome, prevented the progress of cholestasis and stimulated the bile secretory function of the liver. The favourable effect of the plant antihepatotoxic preparation was due to the presence of a complex of its biologically active substances.

Topics: Animals; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; Hepatitis, Animal; Liver; Male; Plant Extracts; Plants, Medicinal; Rats; Tea; Tetracycline