Severe autogenously fecal peritonitis in ageing Wistar rats. Response to intravenous meropenem

Abstract

PURPOSE:To evaluate the treatment outcome of severe peritonitis in rats with increasing age. METHODS:Thirty Wistar rats stratified in three groups: group I -six month-old; group II -12 month-old; and group III -18 monthold, underwent autogenously fecal peritonitis (6 ml/kg rat), and were treated with intravenous meropenem. The survival animals were followed-up for 45 days. The variables were expressed by their mean and standard error of the mean (SEM). p<0.05 was used for rejecting the null hypothesis. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee. RESULTS:There was a significant increase in the mortality and morbidity in elderly rats. Of interest, even among young survival rats presenting with severe residual abscesses both in the abdomen and thorax cavities, they present an almost normal life. CONCLUSIONS:The treatment of severe autogenously fecal peritonitis with intravenous meropenem reached reasonable results in rats with six and twelve months of age, even considering residual abscesses on abdomen and thorax cavities. However, the great majority (80%) of elderly rats could not overcome the initial severe infectious challenge, proving that ageing is a very important risk factor for impairing immune response. Thus, sepsis remains a challenging situation, especially in elderly.

Meropenem antibiotic therapy in acute secondary peritonitis, therapeutic effects superior to other therapies – experimental clinical and histopathological study in the laboratory animal

“…In the absence of any treatment in acute peritonitis in rats, mortality was 100% at intervals of 12 to 52 hours [15][16][17], in our study, mortality at 24 hours, in the case of subjects who did not receive treatment was 40% at 24-48 hours, at the time of T4 being alive three subjects. At the same time, in Group C, subjects treated with Cefuroxime, mortality was 50% in the first 24 to 48 hours, and in Group D, subjects treated with Meropenem, mortality at 24 to 48 hours was 0, explainable in context in which studies in rats showed an 8-day mortality of 10% [14].…”

“…In the absence of any treatment in acute peritonitis in rats, mortality was 100% at intervals of 12 to 52 hours [ 15 , 16 , 17 ], in our study, mortality at 24 hours, in the case of subjects who did not receive treatment was 40% at 24–48 hours, at the time of T4 being alive three subjects. At the same time, in Group C, subjects treated with Cefuroxime, mortality was 50% in the first 24 to 48 hours, and in Group D, subjects treated with Meropenem, mortality at 24 to 48 hours was 0, explainable in context in which studies in rats showed an 8-day mortality of 10% [ 14 ]. With the formation of intraperitoneal abscesses, the effects of peritonitis begin to decrease, the clinical evolution being towards an apparent cure [ 18 ], in our study, all subjects who survived more than 24 hours showed intraperitoneal abscesses, consisting of organs adjacent to the perforation, which had the role of locating the lesions.…”

“…Considering the above, we imagined a study, using laboratory animals, in which we produced gastric perforations, then we followed their evolution without antibiotic treatment and under antibiotic therapy with Cefuroxime 25 mg/kg/24 hours intravenously [ 13 ] or Meropenem 40 mg/kg intravenously [ 14 ], assessing at certain times the gross and microscopic tissue changes of the affected organ and the peritoneum.…”