The Yucatan micropig as an experimental bacteremia model.

The Yucatan micropig has been used to develop an experimental model of chro nic bacteremia. This animal exhibits clinical and biological characteristic s that are close to those in humans, and the pharmacokinetic behaviours of many classes of drugs in this model are similar to those in man. Six adult females were intravenously inoculated with a mean Escherichia coli inoculum of 5.1 x 10(9) bacteria. During five days of spontaneous evolution, the me dical follow-up includes biological, clinical and bacteriological parameter s. A systemic inflammatory syndrome, a sepsis, an organ insufficiency and p ositive blood cultures mimic the human disease. In all animals there is an adynamia, a lack of motor coordination, an anorexia, a tachypnea, a fever, a leuconeutropenia followed by an hyperleucocytosis, an anemia, a thrombope nia, an acute tubulonephritis and an elevated sedimentation rate. In some c ases, there is an increase of the C reactive protein, in others, an increas e of IL-6 and IL-8. At day five, all animals are alive, and five micropigs have positive blood cultures. This chronic, reproducible model is thus suit able for further antibacterial treatments evaluations. (C) 2001 Editions sc ientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.