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Biomedical subjects

R S Northrup

Publications and source records attributed to R S Northrup.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1972

In vitro susceptibility of El Tor and classical Vibrio cholerae strains to trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole.

Trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole were tested individually and in combination against El Tor and classical biotype strains of Vibrio cholerae. Determinations of the minimal inhibitory concentration in liquid media and by an agardilution method showed that classical strains were uniformly more resistant to sulfamethoxazole than were El Tor strains. In agar-dilution studies, trimethoprim was equally active against both biotypes. Combination of the agents produced a synergistic action against all strains tested. Testing for susceptibility to sulfonamide is suggested as a possible method for differentiating between El Tor and classical biotypes of V. cholerae.

Drug Synergism↗
PubMed1971

Clinical studies of the use of bacteriophage in the treatment of cholera.

This study reports the use of bacteriophage prepared in the USSR in the treatment of cholera. Patients with acute cholera were rehydrated with a standard intravenous solution and were then given a bacteriophage preparation in addition to maintenance intravenous therapy. The titre of the phage preparations was between 10(8) and 10(9) pfu/ml. Bacteriophage was given by mouth (25 ml for adults and 20 ml for children) for 3 days; in addition, some patients were also given an intramuscular injection (20 ml) of phage on the first day in hospital. For comparison, other groups of patients were given a standard tetracycline regimen or a placebo preparation. Daily vibrio and phage counts were made on stool samples from all patients and the vibrio strains isolated from each patient were tested for sensitivity to the phage preparation.The criteria used to evaluate the various therapies were duration of diarrhoea, volume of stool, and duration of vibrio excretion.The results of the study demonstrate that, in the doses used, the therapeutic effect of bacteriophage, if any, was markedly inferior to that of tetracycline and that in the current state of our knowledge bacteriophage, as used in this study, has no place in the treatment of cholera.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1970

Effect of massive doses of bacteriophage on excretion of vibrios, duration of diarrhoea and output of stools in acute cases of cholera.

Each member of a group of 8 patients with acute cholera was treated with a mixture of four cholera bacteriophage preparations containing over 2 x 10(12) phage particles/ml. These massive doses were intended to kill immediately all vibrios in the intestine by "lysis from without". The numbers of Vibrio cholerae were drastically reduced rapidly. In 4 patients, V. cholerae was completely eliminated from the stools early in the treatment; the total stool volume and after-treatment of diarrhoea were reduced in comparison with a control group but were higher than in a group of patients treated with tetracycline. In the other 4 patients treated with phage, vibrios disappeard more slowly from the stools and there was no apparent clinical effect of the phage. In all the patients treated with phage, the duration of diarrhoea was longer than in patients in a control group who excreted vibrios for a similar length of time although the stool output was similar. This was interpreted as being due to the persistence of vibrios in foci of infection in the upper intestine.It is concluded that treatment of cholera with massive doses of bacteriophage is not as effective as treatment with tetracycline. However, phage can selectively eliminate the majority of vibrios without affecting the other intestinal flora and without any apparent toxic effect on the patient. Phage might therefore be useful as a research tool.

Acute Disease↗