Biologie response modifier ok-432 pretreatment reduces mortality in burned mice infected with gram-negative bacteria

When compared with a control group, mice pretreated with the biologic response modifier OK-432 showed increased survival when burned and infected with several strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate. Quantitative microbial counts in the skin, liver, and kidneys of burned mice infected with Pseudmonas aeruginosa showed that although skin counts were not different between control groups pretreated or untreated with OK-432, liver and kidney counts were reduced significantly in the group pretreated with OK-432. We speculate from these results that OK-432 pretreatment may enhance survival by enhancing host clearance of microorganisms entering the circulation from the burn wound. Making mice granulocytopenic by cyclophosphamide treatment or macrophage-deficient/dysfunctional by carrageenan treatment nullified any survival advantage given by OK-432 pretreatment. These results supported our speculation and suggested that both of these cell types were important in the mechanisms of enhanced survival afforded by OK-432 pretreatment.