Fig 1.
Schedule of the infection, treatment, and sample collection of N. gonorrhoeae in the female mouse model of genital tract infection.
Two days before the infection, 8-week-old female ovariectomized BALB/c mice were implanted subcutaneously with a 5-mg, 21-day controlled-release estradiol pellet. Mice were given antibiotics (Tm, trimethoprim; Sm, streptomycin; Van, vancomycin) throughout the experiment, as described in the Materials and Methods section. Two days following vaginal infection, mice were allocated into groups and orally administered either auranofin (0.25 mg/kg) or vehicle (10% DMSO, 10% Tween 80, 80% PBS) for five days. One group of mice was given a single intraperitoneal dose of ceftriaxone (15 mg/kg) as a positive control. Vaginal swabs were collected daily. Samples were serially diluted and plated on GC agar supplemented with vancomycin, colistin, nystatin, and trimethoprim (VCNT).
Fig 2.
Viable count of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (average ± standard deviation log10 CFU/mL) recovered from vaginal swab of mice over the course of five days of treatment with vehicle, auranofin, or ceftriaxone.
Female ovariectomized BALB/c mice that were subcutaneously implanted with 5-mg, 21-day controlled-release estradiol pellets were infected intravaginally with N. gonorrhoeae FA1090 and then were treated orally with auranofin (0.25 mg/kg) or vehicle (10% DMSO:10% Tween 80:80% PBS) for five consecutive days. As a positive control, a group of mice received a single intraperitoneal dose of ceftriaxone (15 mg/kg). Vaginal swabs were collected daily and cultured to determine the number of viable bacteria colonizing the vagina of mice. The data were analyzed via a two-way ANOVA with post-hoc Dunnett’s test for multiple comparisons. An asterisk (*) indicates a significant difference (P <0.05) between mice treated with auranofin or ceftriaxone compared with the vehicle.