Analysis of Monotherapy and Combination Therapy on Helicobacter felis

Helicobacter felis is a bacterium that infects the gastrointestinal systems of small animals (most commonly cats), causing stomach gastritis with symptoms of vomiting, dehydration, poor appetite, pain and weakness. The goal of this study was to determine which antibiotics would be most effective at eradicating H. felis, therefore promoting healing in afflicted animals. It was hypothesized that, in a 24-hour period, a combination of high-performing antibiotics would be more effective in combating infection than monotherapy with a high-performing antibiotic. In the current study, we gathered various antibiotics that have been proven to successfully fight bacterial infections, including ampicillin, gentamicin, streptomycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and oxacillin. We also created a combination of gentamicin and streptomycin, the two most effective monotherapy antibiotics, in addition to a combination of ampicillin and tetracycline, the two most ineffective monotherapy antibiotics. The H. felis was grown on tryptic soy and subjected to the Kirby‑Bauer antibiotic test with eight different antibiotic treatments. After 24 hours of incubation, we measured the inhibition zones of the stand-alone monotherapy antibiotics (i.e., how effective they were against the H. felis). The treatment that proved an overall most effective average eradication rate was the monotherapy with streptomycin. The combination of gentamicin and streptomycin, while second most effective in comparison to the monotherapy, proved to be less effective. This research suggests that it would be best to use a monotherapy in treating animals infected with H. felis.