Evaluation of antimicrobial activity against Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides Small Colony using an in vitro...

The objectives of this study were to assess the activity of oxytetracycline (OTC), danofloxacin and tulathromycin against Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides Small Colony, the causative agent of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, in an in vitro dynamic concentration model and to determine the concentration and/or time dependence of such activity. Time-kill assays that simulated elimination of antimicrobials from the body were performed. Initial antimicrobial concentrations corresponded to various multiples of the MIC and cultures were diluted in a stepwise fashion with either drug-free or drug-containing artificial medium to mimic administration by single-release bolus or infusion, respectively. Where appropriate, data were fitted to sigmoidal E(max) models. OTC produced no change in mycoplasma titre from the initial inoculum size, regardless of the concentration or means of drug exposure. Both danofloxacin and tulathromycin resulted in a decrease in mycoplasma titre but neither was bactericidal (99.9 % kill) over 12 h. A greater antimycoplasmal effect, defined as the change in log(10) (c.f.u. ml(-1)) over 12 h, was achieved when danofloxacin was administered as a single-release bolus, suggesting concentration-dependent activity, whereas the antimycoplasmal effect of tulathromycin was comparable following administration by single-release bolus or infusion, owing to its long half-life.