NYMC Faculty Publications
In Vitro susceptibility of Treponema Pallidum Subsp. Pallidum to Doxycycline
Journal Title
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
First Page
e00979
Last Page
20
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-21-2020
Department
Medicine
Abstract
Doxycycline is regarded as an effective therapy for early syphilis, and there is increasing interest in using doxycycline for prophylaxis of this infection. However, the MIC of doxycycline for Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum has not been reported previously. In this study, an in vitro culture system was utilized to determine that the MIC of doxycycline is 0.06 to 0.10 μg/ml for four strains of T. pallidum subsp. pallidum (Nichols, SS14, UW231B, and UW249B). The Nichols strain cultured in vitro with doxycycline was also tested for infectivity in rabbits, and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was found to be ≤0.1 μg/ml using this method. The low MIC and MBC values are consistent with the previously demonstrated clinical efficacy of doxycycline for the treatment of early syphilis. This study represents the first report of the in vitro susceptibility of T. pallidum to doxycycline, and the resulting information may be useful in the consideration of doxycycline for use in prevention of syphilis.
Recommended Citation
Edmondson, D. G., Wormser, G. P., & Norris, S. J. (2020). In Vitro susceptibility of Treponema Pallidum Subsp. Pallidum to Doxycycline. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 64 (10), e00979-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00979-20
