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Canine model for investigating the impact of oral enrofloxacin on commensal coliforms and colonization with multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli

¹School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia ²Immunology and Microbiology, Elizabeth MacArthur Agriculture Institute, NSW Agriculture, Camden, NSW, Australia

Correspondence Darren J. Trottd.trott{at}uq.edu.au

Received November 14, 2003
Accepted January 12, 2004

A model was developed in dogs to determine the impact of oral enrofloxacin administration on the indigenous coliform population in the gastrointestinal tract and subsequent disposition to colonization by a strain of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli (MDREC). Dogs given a daily oral dose of 5 mg enrofloxacin kg^–1 for 21 consecutive days showed a significant decline in faecal coliforms to levels below detectable limits by 72 h of administration. Subsequently, faecal coliforms remained suppressed throughout the period of enrofloxacin dosing. Upon termination of antibiotic administration, the number of excreted faecal coliforms slowly returned over an 8-day period, to levels comparable to those seen prior to antibiotic treatment. Enrofloxacin-treated dogs were more effectively colonized by MDREC, evidenced by a significantly increased count of MDREC in the faeces (7.1 ± 1.5 log₁₀ g^–1) compared with non-antibiotic-treated dogs (5.2 ± 1.2; P = 0.003). Furthermore, antibiotic treatment also sustained a significantly longer period of MDREC excretion in the faeces (26.8 ± 10.5 days) compared with animals not treated with enrofloxacin (8.5 ± 5.4 days; P = 0.0215). These results confirm the importance of sustained delivery of an antimicrobial agent to maintain and expand the colonization potential of drug-resistant bacteria in vivo, achieved in part by reducing the competing commensal coliforms in the gastrointestinal tract to below detectable levels in the faeces. Without in vivo antimicrobial selection pressure, commensal coliforms dominated the gastrointestinal tract at the expense of the MDREC population. Conceivably, the model developed could be used to test the efficacy of novel non-antibiotic strategies aimed at monitoring and controlling gastrointestinal colonization by multidrug-resistant members of the Enterobacteriaceae that cause nosocomial infections.

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