RESUMEN
PURPOSE: To compare bactericidal activities of daptomycin (DAP) and vancomycin (VAN) in an experimental rabbit model of Enterococcus faecalis endophthalmitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The right vitreous cavities of 24 New Zealand rabbits were inoculated with 100 colony-forming units of E. faecalis; and after 24 h, rabbits were randomly divided into three groups. DAP group (n = 8, 0.2 mg/0.05 ml intravitreally), VAN group (n = 8, 1 mg/0.05 ml intravitreally) and balanced salt solution group (BSS, n = 8, 0.05 ml intravitreally). Clinical examination scores were recorded, and vitreous aspirates were obtained for microbiological analysis on days 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4. Rabbits were sacrificed, and the eyes were enucleated for histopathological assessment. RESULTS: There was no difference between the DAP, VAN and BSS groups in terms of the clinical grading of endophthalmitis 24 h after the inoculation. The bacterial counts were similar between the VAN and DAP groups except on day 1, where it was significantly lower than those in the VAN group (p = 0.003). On day 4, 62% of the eyes treated with DAP, and 50% of the eyes treated with VAN were sterilized. All of the eyes from the BSS group showed increasing bacterial growth from day 0 to day 4. There was no difference between the DAP and VAN groups in terms of the histopathological and clinical examination scores, while they were significantly lower than those in the BSS group. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates evidence of the effectiveness of DAP for the treatment of experimental E. faecalis endophthalmitis.