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Treatment with Gentamicin on a Murine Model of Protothecal Mastitis

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to establish a murine protothecal mastitis model and to evaluate the treatment efficiency of gentamicin. Challenge routes were determined with a pathogenic Prototheca zopfii genotype 2 (P. zopfii) strain. 25 BALB/c mice were inoculated in mammary glands with graded dosages (103, 104, 105, 106, 107 CFU of P. zopfii) and killed on the 7th day. Another 25 animals were also killed at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 days after inoculation of 1 × 106 CFU of P. zopfii, the milk somatic cell counts, pathological section of mammary glands, and P. zopfii burden were observed. The antimicrobial activity was tested using disc diffusion test and minimum inhibitory concentrations. Gentamicin was given intramuscularly to analyze the therapeutic effect. The results showed that the best infection route was intra-mammary gland, and the mastitis model was established with 1 × 106 CFU of P. zopfii. After infection, the somatic cell counts increased significantly. The pathological reaction mainly consisted of infiltration of inflammatory cells, destruction of acini, accumulation of lymphocyte cells and the severity of the changes was dosage and time-dependent. The P. zopfii burden revealed that P. zopfii continuously replicated. In vitro susceptibility tests indicated that the Prototheca strains were antimicrobial susceptible to gentamicin at concentrations between 0.03 and 4 μg/ml. In vivo therapeutic assay demonstrated that high concentrations of gentamicin (≥20 mg/kg) could inhibit the growth of P. zopfii. We conclude that the murine model of protothecal mastitis was established successfully and gentamicin may be an effective choice for treatment of P. zopfii.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Chinese Twelfth “Five-year” National Science and Technology Support Project (No. 2012BAD12B03) and National Education Ministry’s Major Project (No. 313054).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Ruilong Chang, Qiaoling Yang, Gang Liu, Yongxia Liu, Bowen Zheng, Jingliang Su & Bo Han

  2. Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Jingliang Su

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  1. Ruilong Chang
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Correspondence to Jingliang Su or Bo Han.

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Chang, R., Yang, Q., Liu, G. et al. Treatment with Gentamicin on a Murine Model of Protothecal Mastitis. Mycopathologia 175, 241–248 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-013-9628-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-013-9628-1

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