Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To compare the efficacy of moxifloxacin, a 4th generation fluoroquinolone antibiotic, to ciprofloxacin, a 2nd generation fluoroquinolone, in the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis in a rabbit model. Methods: 1.9 x104 fluoroquinolone sensitive P. aeruginosa bacteria (ciprofloxacin MIC = 0.5 µg/ml; moxifloxacin MIC = 2.0 µg/ml) were injected into the right cornea of 25 NZ albino rabbits. After 12 hours of incubation, the induced ulcers were treated with hourly moxifloxacin 0.5% (10 eyes), hourly ciprofloxacin 0.3% (10 eyes) or hourly saline drops (5 eyes). After 12 hours of treatment, the rabbits were euthanized. Trephinated corneas were homogenized and plated with serial dilutions. Colony counts were performed after 24 hours of incubation. Results: Average colony counts were 108,000 colonies for control rabbits, 0 colonies for ciprofloxacin-treated rabbits, and 14 colonies for moxifloxacin-treated rabbits. Both ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin performed significantly better than control in activity against P. aeruginosa (p = 0.0046 and 0.0069, respectively); there were no significant differences between the two drugs in bactericidal activity (p = 0.1120). Conclusions: Moxifloxacin and ciprofloxacin have equivalent efficacy in the treatment of experimental Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis in rabbits.
Keywords: keratitis • antibiotics/antifungals/antiparasitics • animal model