In vitro models for the study of the intracellular activity of antibiotics

Abstract

Intracellular bacteria are poorly responsive to antibiotic treatment. Pharmacological studies are thus needed to determine which antibiotics are most potent or effective against intracellular bacteria as well as to explore the reasons for poor bacterial responsiveness. An in vitro pharmacodynamic model is described, consisting of (1) phagocytosis of pre-opsonized bacteria by eukaryotic cells; (2) elimination of non-internalized bacteria with gentamicin; (3) incubation of infected cells with antibiotics; and (4) determination of surviving bacteria by viable cell counting and normalization of the counts based on sample protein content.