Selecting for development of fluoroquinolone resistance in a Campylobacter jejuni strain 81116 in chickens using various enrofloxacin treatment protocols

• Published in: Journal of applied microbiology Vol. 109; no. 4; pp. 1132 - 1138
• Main Authors: Stapleton, K, Cawthraw, S.A, Cooles, S.W, Coldham, N.G, La Ragione, R.M, Newell, D.G, Ridley, A.M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.2010; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Blackwell
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; broiler chickens; broilers; Campylobacter; Campylobacter jejuni; Campylobacter jejuni - drug effects; Campylobacter jejuni - growth & development; Campylobacter jejuni - isolation & purification; Cecum - microbiology; chicken; chickens; Chickens - microbiology; ciprofloxacin; Ciprofloxacin - pharmacology; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; enrofloxacin; fluoroquinolones; Fluoroquinolones - pharmacology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Microbiology; poultry; resistance; Applied microbiology; Poultry; Campylobacteraceae; Enrofloxacin; Campylobacter jejuni; Resistance; Vertebrata; Campylobacterjejuni; Treatment; Bacteria; broilers; Chicken; fluoroquinolones; Aves; Ciprofloxacin
• ISSN: 1364-5072; 1365-2672
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2010.04734.x

To determine the effect of various enrofloxacin dose regimes on the colonization and selection of resistance in Campylobacter jejuni strain 81116P in experimentally colonized chickens. Two experiments were undertaken, in which 14-day-old chickens were colonized with 1 x 10⁷-1 x 10⁹ CFU g⁻¹Camp. jejuni strain 81116P and then treated with enrofloxacin at 12-500 ppm in drinking water for various times. Caecal colonization levels were determined at various time-points after start-of-treatment, and the susceptibility of recovered isolates to ciprofloxacin was monitored. Resistance was indicated by growth on agar containing 4 μg ml⁻¹ ciprofloxacin, MICs of 16 μg ml⁻¹ and the Thr86Ile mutation in gyrA. Enrofloxacin at doses of 12-250 ppm reduced Camp. jejuni colonization over the first 48-72 h after start-of-treatment. The degree of reduction in colonization was dose, but not treatment time, dependent. In all cases, maximal colonization was re-established within 4-6 days. Fluoroquinolone-resistant organisms were recoverable within 48 h of start-of-treatment; after a further 24 h all recovered isolates were resistant. In contrast, a dose of 500 ppm enrofloxacin reduced colonization to undetectable levels within 48 h, and the treated birds remained Campylobacter negative throughout the remaining experimental period. By high pressure liquid chromatography, for all doses, the maximum concentrations of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin in the caecal contents were detected at the point of treatment completion. Thereafter, levels declined to undetectable by 7 days post-treatment withdrawal. In a model using chickens maximally colonized with Camp. jejuni 81116P, treatment with enrofloxacin, at doses of 12-250 ppm in drinking water, enables the selection, and clonal expansion, of fluoroquinolone-resistant organisms. However, this is preventable by treatment with 500 ppm of enrofloxacin. Treatment of chickens with enrofloxacin selects for resistance in Camp. jejuni in highly pre-colonized birds. However, a dose of 500 ppm enrofloxacin prevented the selection of resistant campylobacters.