A rabbit perforated-capsule model was utilized to study antimicrobial efficacy in treating 2-week-old Staphylococcus aureus abscesses. Animals received either ciprofloxacin (30 mg/kg), cefazolin (100 mg/kg), or ciprofloxacin (30 mg/kg) plus rifampin (20 mg/kg) every 8 h for 8 days or no antibiotic. Antibiotic levels within the abscess exceeded the MIC for the test organism. At the end of treatment, ciprofloxacin was no more effective than the control, animals receiving cefazolin had a mean log10 fall of 2.41 CFU/ml, and animals receiving ciprofloxacin plus rifampin had a mean log10 reduction of 5.06 CFU/ml (P less-than-or-equal-to 0.01). Six days after completion of therapy, all abscesses in animals receiving ciprofloxacin plus rifampin were culture negative. Surviving organisms in animals receiving ciprofloxacin or rifampin did not develop resistance to the treatment antibiotics. In vitro time-kill curves performed with logarithmic- and stationary-phase organisms in broth, serum, and abscess fluid supernatants did not correlate with the in vivo results. Neutrophil killing studies of S. aureus pretreated with antibiotics revealed greater killing of organisms pretreated with ciprofloxacin plus rifampin than of those pretreated with cefazolin or ciprofloxacin alone. In conclusion, ciprofloxacin plus rifampin was effective therapy in this staphylococcal abscess model, compared with the moderate efficacy of cefazolin and no effect observed with ciprofloxacin alone. Enhanced neutrophil killing of S. aureus pretreated with antibiotics may be an important mechanism by which bacteria are killed in suppurative infections.
