Cabozantinib inhibits Listeria monocytogenes infection in mice / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To test the effect of the c-Met inhibitor cabozantinib in inhibiting infections by Listeria monocytogenes (LM) in mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>C57BL/6 mice at 6 weeks of age were subjected to intraperitoneal injection of LM and randomized into 4 groups for treatment with intraperitoneal injection of PBS, intragastric administration of cabozantinib (20 µg/g), intraperitoneal injection of ampicillin (Amp, 20 µg/g), or cabozantinib plus Amp. The survival curves were drawn for each group, and the number of bacteria in the blood and brain tissues was determined; serum IL-10 level and NF-κB p65 level in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were assayed, and Evans Blue (EB) content and pathological changes in brain were examined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with PBS-treated mice, the mice treated with cabozantinib showed a significantly higher survival rate, lower bacterial counts in the blood and brain (P<0.05 or 0.001), lower IL-10 (P<0.05) and NF-κB p65 levels (P<0.01), lower brain EB content (P<0.001), and milder pathological changes in the brain. The blood and brain bacterial counts (P<0.001), IL-10 (P<0.01) and NF-κB p65 levels (P<0.001), and brain EB content (P<0.001) were all significantly lower in mice treated with the combination of drugs than in mice treated with cabozantinib alone.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Cabozantinib can inhibit LM infection in mice and has important values in developing new anti-intracellular infection drug.</p>