[Rifampicin effectiveness in experimental anaerobic gas infection].

The inhibitory effect of rifampicin against most of 82 strains of pathogenic Clostridia was evident at a concentration of less than 0.1 gamma/ml. The bactericidal concentrations were close to the bacteriostatic ones with respect to 74 strains. The protective effect of rifampicin in mice with experimental anaerobic gaseous infaction caused by different species of pathogenic Clostridia was evident at doses of 0.5 mg/kg. In infections caused by associations of Clostridia and Staph. aureus resistant to other antibiotics, rifampicin was effective, while ampicillin had no protective effect. Rifampicin administered 24 to 96 hours before the infection prevented the specific process. A number of other antibiotics, such as ampicillin, cephaloridin, morphocycline and 7-chlor-7-desoxylincomycin had no such a capacity. The prolonged prophylactic effect of rifampicin was associated with maintenance of low antibiotic levels in the blood and muscle tissues which were higher than the minimum inhibitory concentrations. The effect of rifampicin against the background of a rapidly developing process was less pronounced and limited in time.