International journal of experimental pathology
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Comparative Study
A morphological comparison of treatment with different beta-lactam antibiotics on experimental staphylococcal endocarditis and aortitis.
The effect of treatment of staphylococcal endocarditis and aortitis with five different beta-lactam antibiotics (ceftazidime, cephaloridine, cefotaxime, methicillin and flucloxacillin) was evaluated by light and electron microscopy. It was found that therapy with all five antibiotics produced similar morphological changes. At 3 and 8 h, the bacterial colonies showed zonal changes with the bacteria furthest from the lumen exhibiting less severe damage while the outer region consisted largely of lysed cells. ⋯ However, even at 48 h the inflammatory cells had not reached all the deep-seated colonies. It would appear that all the antibiotics reached bactericidal concentrations within the lesions. However, the eradication of the few 'persistent' bacteria was delayed by the inability of the inflammatory cells to reach all the colonies.