Ludwig M, Johannes S, Bergmann M, Failing K, Schiefer H G, Weidner W
Klinik und Poliklinik für Urologie and Kinderurologie, Giessen, Germany.
BJU Int. 2002 Dec;90(9):933-8. doi: 10.1046/j.1464-410x.2002.03029.x.
To assess the effect of initial antimicrobial therapy with a new highly potent quinolone (sparfloxacin) on the outcome of infection, especially acute and chronic inflammation, in a rat model of unilateral Escherichia coli epididymitis.
The study included 60 Sprague-Dawley rats, each of which received 0.1 mL of an E. coli (0:6 strain) suspension (106 colony forming units/mL) injected into the right ductus deferens. At 24 h after infection an oral antimicrobial treatment with sparfloxacin was initiated in half of the animals. The rats were killed 14 days, 3 and 6 months after infection, and both epididymes and the prostate gland cultured to re-isolate E. coli. To evaluate the grade of inflammation in both epididymes, histological variables, including acute and chronic inflammation and scar formation, were evaluated and a total inflammatory score, representing the sum of all variables, computed.
Whereas antimicrobial therapy eradicated the pathogen, in untreated animals the pathogen was detectable for up to 6 months after infection in the infected epididymis and/or the prostate gland, while the contralateral epididymis was sterile. The inflammatory reaction in the infected epididymis was significantly less in treated animals (P < 0.001). Subclinical nonbacterial inflammation was present in the contralateral epididymis.
Although adequate antimicrobial treatment eradicated the pathogen and reduced the grade of epididymal damage, inflammation was not avoided. Subclinical inflammation of the contralateral epididymis may contribute to impaired fertility. These results indicate that an inflammatory reaction initiated by bacteria might persist as a nonbacterial process despite early therapy, or by bacteria undetectable by conventional culture techniques, and may compromise male fertility.
在单侧大肠杆菌附睾炎大鼠模型中，评估新型高效喹诺酮类药物（司帕沙星）初始抗菌治疗对感染结局，尤其是急慢性炎症的影响。
该研究纳入60只Sprague-Dawley大鼠，每只大鼠右侧输精管注射0.1 mL大肠杆菌（0:6菌株）悬液（106菌落形成单位/mL）。感染24小时后，一半动物开始口服司帕沙星进行抗菌治疗。在感染后14天、3个月和6个月处死大鼠，对双侧附睾和前列腺进行培养以重新分离出大肠杆菌。为评估双侧附睾的炎症程度，对包括急性和慢性炎症以及瘢痕形成在内的组织学变量进行评估，并计算代表所有变量总和的总炎症评分。
抗菌治疗可根除病原体，而在未治疗的动物中，感染后长达6个月，在感染的附睾和/或前列腺中可检测到病原体，而对侧附睾无菌。治疗组动物感染附睾中的炎症反应明显较轻（P < 0.001）。对侧附睾存在亚临床非细菌性炎症。
尽管适当的抗菌治疗根除了病原体并降低了附睾损伤程度，但炎症并未避免。对侧附睾的亚临床炎症可能导致生育能力受损。这些结果表明，尽管早期进行了治疗，但由细菌引发的炎症反应可能会以非细菌性过程持续存在，或由传统培养技术无法检测到的细菌引起，并可能损害男性生育能力。
