Academic Department, Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (Academia and Research), Birmingham, United Kingdom.
CBR Division, Defence Science and Technology Laboratorygrid.417845.b (Dstl), Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2021 Oct 18;65(11):e0067321. doi: 10.1128/AAC.00673-21. Epub 2021 Aug 9.
Q fever, caused by the intracellular pathogen Coxiella burnetii, is traditionally treated using tetracycline antibiotics, such as doxycycline. Doxycycline is often poorly tolerated, and antibiotic-resistant strains have been isolated. In this study, we have evaluated a panel of antibiotics (doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and co-trimoxazole) against C. burnetii using methods (determination of MIC using liquid and solid media; efficacy assessment in a THP cell infection model) and methods (wax moth larvae and mouse models of infection). In addition, the schedule for antibiotic treatment has been evaluated, with therapy initiated at 24 h pre- or postchallenge. Both doxycycline and levofloxacin limited overt clinical signs during treatment in the AJ mouse model of aerosol infection, but further studies are required to investigate the possibility of disease relapse or incomplete bacterial clearance after the antibiotics are stopped. Levofloxacin was well tolerated and therefore warrants further investigation as an alternative to the current recommended treatment with doxycycline.
Q 热是由细胞内病原体贝氏柯克斯体引起的，传统上使用四环素类抗生素（如强力霉素）进行治疗。强力霉素通常耐受性差，并且已经分离出了耐药菌株。在这项研究中，我们使用了方法（使用液体和固体培养基测定 MIC；在 THP 细胞感染模型中评估疗效）和方法（蜡螟幼虫和感染小鼠模型）评估了一组抗生素（强力霉素、环丙沙星、左氧氟沙星和复方磺胺甲噁唑）对贝氏柯克斯体的作用。此外，还评估了抗生素治疗的方案，即在挑战前 24 小时或后开始治疗。在 AJ 小鼠气溶胶感染模型中，强力霉素和左氧氟沙星均限制了治疗期间明显的临床症状，但需要进一步研究以调查抗生素停药后疾病复发或不完全清除细菌的可能性。左氧氟沙星耐受性良好，因此值得进一步研究，作为替代目前推荐的强力霉素治疗的选择。
