Topical ciprofloxacin treatment of Pseudomonas keratitis in rabbits
T. P. O'Brien, M. R. Sawusch, J. D. Dick and J. D. Gottsch
Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD 21205.
Ciprofloxacin is a new quinolone antibiotic that is highly active in vitro
against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A rabbit model of bacterial keratitis was
used to assess the in vivo efficacy of topical ciprofloxacin. Albino
rabbits received intrastromal injections of 5 X 10(2)
aminoglycoside-resistant P aeruginosa organisms. At five hours after
inoculation, ciprofloxacin (3 mg/mL) therapy was initiated (one drop every
30 minutes for 12 hours). Corneal tissue was then excised for bacterial
colony counts. No organisms were recovered from ciprofloxacin-treated eyes,
compared with an average of 3.1 X 10(7) organisms per milliliter recovered
from untreated controls. This model suggests that topical ciprofloxacin may
be clinically useful in the treatment of aminoglycoside-resistant P
aeruginosa keratitis.
