Abstract
A mouse model was developed which would simulate a surgical wound infection. The model consists of an infected foreign body granuloma which is induced by implanting, subcutaneously, a filter paper disk saturated with carrageenan and a suitable number of bacteria to initiate infection. The ability of cefonicid and cefamandole, administered one hour prior to implantation, to prevent establishment of infection with several bacterial species, including Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, was compared. A single 40 mg/kg dose of cefonicid administered subcutaneously prior to disk implantation protected against the establishment of the local infection, peritonitis and dissemination of the infecting organism to the systemic organs. A similar dose of cefamandole had no effect on the progress of the infections. The local as well as the systemic responses of the mice were characterized. Both the hematologic and the histopathologic pictures of the cefonicid-treated groups resembled those of the uninfected control groups. The response in groups treated with cefamandole resembled the untreated, infected controls. Both cefonicid and cefamandole penetrated into the implanted disk. However, only cefonicid could still be detected four hours after administration.
