Association between Enrofloxacin and N-Acetylcysteine in recurrent bronchopneumopathies in dogs caused by biofilm producer bacteria

To evaluate the efficacy of enrofloxacin and N-acetylcysteine combination in the treatment of recurrent bronchopneumopathies caused by biofilm producer bacteria, a total of 30 dogs with recurrent respiratory diseases were examined. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of each animal was submitted to bacteriological and cytological examinations. Twelve patients have been treated with the above mentioned combination orally or by using an aerosol. Three dogs were randomly selected to be orally treated with Enrofloxacin only and another group of three animals has been randomly chosen to test the treatment with N-acetylcysteine only. Moreover, the in vitro sensitivity towards a panel of antibiotics for both biofilm and not biofilm producing bacteria was evaluated and correlation between bacterial sensitivity and biofilm production was evaluated. One animal was bacteriologically negative while biofilm producer bacteria have been identified in 19 (65.5%) out of the 29 bacteriological positive dogs. Biofilm formation and its abundance decreased bacterial sensitivity towards enrofloxacin (p<0.01) and cephalosporin (p = 0.031) while significant differences were not observed for the other classes of antibiotics. The association showed to be safe and effective in eliminating biofilm producer bacteria from all treated animals.