Guillain-Barré syndrome following Campylobacter jejuni enteritis. Report of three cases and review of the literature.

We describe three cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) associated with Campylobacter jejuni enteritis and review the data from eight other cases described in detail in the literature. The recent recognition of this association is probably due to improved stool culture technique. In comparison with GBS associated with respiratory infections, the delay between the first symptoms of infection and the development of GBS is somewhat longer, an observation in accordance with GBS associated with gastrointestinal symptoms of unidentified etiology. The clinical picture and the outcome do not seem to differ from those of GBS associated with other disorders. Campylobacter jejuni appears to be a pathogen capable of triggering GBS and will probably become increasingly recognized if appropriate culture and serologic tests are performed.

Cardiobacterium hominis endocarditis manifesting as bacterial meningitis.

Cardiobacterium hominis is a rare cause of endocarditis, and infection caused by this organism has not been described outside the vascular system. A patient with a congenital bicuspid aortic valve was initially seen with C hominis bacterial meningitis. Septic emboli from an underlying endocarditis were probably the source of the infection.

Ceftriaxone and outpatient treatment of infective endocarditis.

There are a total of 8000 cases of infective endocarditis yearly in the United States. Central nervous system metastatic infections are not uncommon in infective endocarditis. Because ceftriaxone is highly bound to serum proteins, there is concern that the drug is highly bound to serum proteins, there is concern that the drug might not penetrate well in the core of an infected vegetation. To date, there are two published studies on the treatment of nonenterococcal streptococcal endocarditis by ceftriaxone in humans. Ceftriaxone appears to be an attractive alternative antibiotic therapy to conventional regimens in the treatment of streptococcal endocarditis.

Synergistic activity of ceftriaxone combined with netilmicin administered once daily for treatment of experimental streptococcal endocarditis.

We have conducted experiments to determine if one daily injection of netilmicin (NET) would be synergistic with the broad-spectrum cephalosporin ceftriaxone (CRO) in the treatment of experimentally induced endocarditis. Rats with catheter-induced aortic vegetations were infected intravenously with 3 x 10(7) CFU of a beta-lactam-sensitive strain of Streptococcus sanguis or a beta-lactam-resistant strain of Streptococcus mitis. Treatment with the antibiotics alone (CRO, 10 mg/kg of body weight every 8 h; NET, 18 mg/kg every 24 h) or in combinations which had proved synergistic in in vitro time-kill curves was commenced 48 h postinfection and continued for 72 h. The results show that the combination was markedly effective against S. sanguis and moderately effective against S. mitis, while, with the protocol used here, the agents alone were not. The results suggest that CRO-NET should be an effective combination for treating streptococcal endocarditis in humans and may permit a shorter duration of treatment and once-a-day dosing to be used.

Streptococcal infection of endocardial and other intravascular vegetations in rabbits: natural history and effect of dexamethasone.

Experiments were designed to study the natural history of infection in different parts of the vascular system. Sterile vegetations were produced in rabbits by placing catheters in the inferior vena cava, tricuspid or aortic valves, and thoracic or abdominal aorta and then were infected by the intravenous inoculation of Streptococcus sanguis. At 1 day after bacterial challenge, all VEGS were infected, mean bacterial densities being highest in the VEGS of the aortic and tricuspid valves. By 14 days, there was a significant decrease in the mean bacterial density in all VEGS except for the aortic valve: the VEGS of the inferior vena cava and abdominal aorta were sterile, as were half of those of the thoracic aorta. There were no deaths except for animals with aortic valve infection. Dexamethasone inhibited the sterilization of the thoracic aorta VEGS, but was without effect on aortic valve VEGS, 5 mm distant. Sterilization of tricuspid valve VEGS after catheter removal was also inhibited by dexamethasone. Thus, there are host defense mechanisms which lead to the sterilization of infections everywhere in the vascular system except in the left side of the heart, and these mechanisms, as yet undefined, are inhibited by dexamethasone.

Comparison of single and multiple doses of prophylactic antibiotics in experimental streptococcal endocarditis.

Single-doses or short-term administration of beta-lactam antibiotics alone or combined with aminoglucoside antibiotics have failed to consistently prevent experimental streptococcal endocarditis induced by high inocula of bacteria poorly susceptible to killing by these antibiotics. The optimal duration of administration of antibiotics for successful prophylaxis under these circumstances has not been established. We therefore tested, in rats with catheter-induced sterile aortic vegetations, the duration of administration of antibiotic necessary to prevent endocarditis induced by bacterial inocula 100 to 10,000 times the 90% infective dose of two tolerant viridans-group streptococci and two Streptococcus faecalis strains. Multiple-dose regimens of amoxicillin alone or of amoxicillin combined with gentamicin were studied. Against the two viridans group streptococci, successful prophylaxis was achieved with multiple doses of amoxicillin alone given over 24 to 48 hr and by the combination of amoxicillin and gentamicin given for 6 to 24 hr. Against the two S. faecalis strains, multiple-dose regimens with amoxicillin alone failed, but the combination of amoxicillin and gentamicin was successful when administered for 48 to 72 hr. Thus, after challenge with high bacterial inocula, repeated doses of a beta-lactam antibiotic alone were sufficient to prevent viridans streptococcal endocarditis, but multiple doses of a bactericidal combination (beta-lactam plus aminoglucoside), as necessary for the treatment of established endocarditis, were a prerequisite for successful prophylaxis of S. faecalis endocarditis.

Effect of indomethacin on the incidence of experimental Escherichia coli pyelonephritis.

In the presence of temporary obstruction (20 h), ascending Escherichia coli urinary infection leads to irreversible acute exudative pyelonephritis (AEP) in rats. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the early inflammatory events which take place in response to the presence of bacteria in the kidney parenchyma and lead to the development of AEP. Rats were given indomethacin before and during the obstructive phase of kidney infection and were sacrificed at different times thereafter. Although renal infection (as defined by bacterial counts) was equally frequent (76%) and severe in indomethacin-treated and control rats sacrificed at the end of the obstructive period, it was found that the incidence of AEP (as defined by the inflammatory response of the kidney elicited by bacteria) 2 days after removal of the obstruction was significantly reduced from 74% in controls given water to 48% in indomethacin-treated animals (P = 0.02). Rat kidneys without AEP had bacterial counts of 10(2)/g. Since indomethacin apparently had no direct antibacterial activity against E. coli and no effect on urine osmolalities, it is likely that the reduction in the incidence of AEP and the concomitant eradication of bacteria after removal of the obstruction was due to an effect of indomethacin that is related to the renal response to infection. This was possibly due to decreased inflammation, as indicated by the fact that when pyelonephritis developed in indomethacin-treated rats it was less severe than in controls. These results suggest that if inflammation can be mitigated when bacteria are present in the kidney during obstruction, the bacteria may be cleared spontaneously once the normal urinary flow is restored.

Response of babesiosis to pentamidine therapy.

Three nonsplenectomized patients were infected with Babesia microti. One had fever, abdominal pain suggesting gallbladder disease, and evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation; another was considered to have lymphoma, partly because two smears for Babesia before admission were negative. All three patients were treated with pentamidine isethionate and improved clinically. Parasites were no longer seen on smears after 5 days of therapy, but Babesia could still be recovered by hamster inoculation 5 weeks after therapy in one of the patients tested, underscoring the need for this test to properly evaluate eradication of the organism. In one patient, pentamidine was stopped after 7 days because of increased creatinine concentration, and this amount of drug appeared adequate to control the parasitemia. Pain at drug injection sites was a major side effect in all three patients. Pentamidine appears to be useful in controlling clinical manifestations of babesiosis and decreasing parasitemia, but it does not eradicate the organism.