Effect of early antibiotic treatment on the antibody response to cytoplasmic proteins of Brucella melitensis in mice.

To test whether antibiotic therapy hampers the antibody response to Brucella antigens, 30 BALB/c mice were infected with Brucella melitensis H38 and randomized for treatment with doxycycline administered intraperitoneally for 42 days starting at 7 or 28 days postinfection (p.i.) (groups DOX7 and DOX28, respectively) or for no treatment (control group). Antibodies to smooth lipopolysaccharide (LPS) reached peak levels (mean optical density [OD] = 2.618) between days 56 and 70 p.i. in the control group, and similar peak levels (mean OD = 2.486) were observed in the DOX28 group, but significantly lower peak levels (mean OD = 0.821) were observed at 28 days p.i. in the DOX7 group. The antibody response against cytoplasmic proteins depleted of LPS (CPs) reached maximal levels (mean OD = 2.402) between days 56 and 70 p.i. in the control group, but no response was detected in the DOX7 group. Anti-CP antibodies were detected in only three animals from the DOX28 group, at levels significantly lower than those in the control group (mean maximal OD = 0.791). The pattern of antibody response to an 18-kDa cytoplasmic protein of Brucella spp. was similar to that against the CP antigen. This study shows that early antibiotic treatment affects the antibody response of mice to cytoplasmic proteins of Brucella and, to a lesser extent, to LPS.