Experimental otitis media in gerbils and chinchillas with Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and other aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.

To ascertain the usefulness of Mongolian gerbils as an inbred model for otitis media, 52 Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus, strain MONT/Tum) were compared with 26 chinchillas (Chinchilla laniger) for susceptibility to Streptococcus pneumoniae type 3. Haemophilus influenzae type b, and a polymicrobic culture including anaerobes (Streptococcus intermedius, Propionibacterium acnes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Corynebacterium sp.). Organisms were inoculated percutaneously into the superior chamber of the middle ear bulla. The gerbils and chinchillas shared similar susceptibilities and responses to the inoculated organisms as determined by X-ray, otoscopic, histopathological, and microbiological determinations at 5 to 7 days. Koch's postulate studies proved the role of S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae in the pathology found in both animal models. The animals were also susceptible to the polymicrobic culture, although the relative virulence of the individual members of this mixture was low, suggesting that these species potentiated as a polymicrobic mixture. The Corynebacterium sp. appeared to elicit the greatest histopathological response in chronic (8-week) studies in gerbils. The gerbils were found to be useful as an alternative animal model for the study of otitis media of bacterial etiology.