Strategy for choosing antibiotics for treating bacterial infections associated with chronic tick-borne encephalitis
Malenko GV, Pogodina VV, Frolova MP, Ivannikova TA. The capacity of wide-spectrum antibiotics kefzol and ristomycin to activate the persisting tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus and cause an exacerbation of chronic process was investigated in Syrian hamsters in whom a prolonged (77 to 270 days) persistent TBE infection was induced by three TBE strains: Vasilchenko, V-383, and 205. The degree of antibiotic-induced activation was assessed using the criteria characterizing the reproduction and peculiarities of persisting TBE virus, immunodepression, and morphologic changes in the central nervous system. Effects of kefzol and ristomycin were compared with those of 8 antibiotics studied previously. Ristomycin, levomycetin (chloramphycin), penicillin, ampicillin (ampital), and levoridan were referred to drugs devoid of evident provoking effect. Kefzol (cefamezin), florimycin (viomycin), and kanamycin (kanamytrex) were characterized as weak activators and streptomycin and tetracycline as potent activators of the persisting TBE virus. These data may be used when selecting alternative agents for therapy of secondary bacterial infections concomitant with TBE. PMID: 8928510
1: Vopr Virusol 1999 Jan-Feb;44(1):35-9
Effect of gentamycin on persistence of tick-borne encephalitis
Pogodina VV, Malenko GV, Karmysheva VIa, Frolova MP. Effect of gentamicin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic, on the persistence of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus in Syrian hamsters and Macaca iris in remote periods (70-434 days) after inoculation is studied.
Attempts at virus isolation from animals treated with gentamicin failed. Unlike other aminoglycosides, e.g. streptomycin, gentamicin exerted no immunodepressive effect; moreover, immunocorrection was observed in some experiments on monkeys and hamsters. None of the 10 previously tested antibiotics elicited such an effect or inhibited the persisting TBE virus. Morphological study of the central nervous system in hamsters and monkeys showed that injection of gentamicin did not cause an exacerbation of chronic encephalitis. The mechanism of immunocorrecting effect of gentamicin is to be further investigated. PMID: 10190241
