HYPERIMMUNE HUMAN-IGG OR RECOMBINANT HUMAN GRANULOCYTE-MACROPHAGE COLONY-STIMULATING FACTOR AS ADJUNCTIVE THERAPY FOR GROUP-B STREPTOCOCCALSEPSIS IN NEWBORN RATS
Lb. Givner et Sk. Nagaraj, HYPERIMMUNE HUMAN-IGG OR RECOMBINANT HUMAN GRANULOCYTE-MACROPHAGE COLONY-STIMULATING FACTOR AS ADJUNCTIVE THERAPY FOR GROUP-B STREPTOCOCCALSEPSIS IN NEWBORN RATS, The Journal of pediatrics, 122(5), 1993, pp. 774-779
Group B streptococcus (GBS) continues to cause considerable morbidity
and death in newborn infants despite the use of antibiotics. We invest
igated the use of adjunctive therapies to be used with antibiotics in
the treatment of neonatal sepsis, using a neonatal rat model of establ
ished GBS disease. After the development of GBS bacteremia, a human Ig
G preparation hyperimmune for GBS, administered with penicillin, decre
ased the mortality rate compared with the use of penicillin alone (14%
vs 57%; p = 0.02). Similarly, recombinant human granulocyte-macrophag
e colony-stimulating factor, administered in a range of doses to anima
ls with bacteremia, decreased mortality rates. The greatest effect was
noted at a dose of 0.05 mug/kg (mortality rate 39% in combination wit
h penicillin vs 76% for penicillin alone; p <0.0001). Thus adjunctive
therapies such os those studied here may have the potential to improve
the outcome of neonatal sepsis.