HYPERIMMUNE HUMAN-IGG OR RECOMBINANT HUMAN GRANULOCYTE-MACROPHAGE COLONY-STIMULATING FACTOR AS ADJUNCTIVE THERAPY FOR GROUP-B STREPTOCOCCALSEPSIS IN NEWBORN RATS

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.