Intracerebral activity of antibiotics against Listeria monocytogenes during experimental rhombencephalitis.

We used a model of rhombencephalitis in gerbils to test the efficacy of various antibiotics against Listeria monocytogenes. Gerbils were inoculated in the middle ear with strain EGD and treated subcutaneously with various antibiotics alone or in combination. We found that the most active antibiotics on intracerebral bacteria were amoxycillin, co-trimoxazole, rifampicin and imipenem. Vancomycin, gentamicin and ciprofloxacin were weakly or not active. The combinations amoxycillin-co-trimoxazole, amoxycillin-gentamicin and co-trimoxazole-rifampicin were highly active against intracerebral bacteria.