Otitis media occurs when the middle ear becomes inflamed due to a bacterial or viral infection, which can either originate in the ear or spread to the ear from the respiratory tract through the Eustachian tube. This condition is most common in children but can affect patients of any age. Symptoms of otitis media include ear pain, swelling, and redness, as well as fever and impaired hearing. Complications from otitis media, such as bacteremia, meningitis, and permanent hearing loss, are rare. However, as more bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, there is an increased risk for severe and fatal infections.

Procedure
We have established an otitis media model in rats. A histamine solution is injected into both the left and right tympanic membranes to impair mucociliary clearance of the eustachian tube. Animals receive a single challenge with an infectious agent via intranasal instillation. Test article is administered via ear drops, oral gavage (PO) or subcutaneous (SC), intravenous (IV), intramuscular (IM), or intraperitoneal (IP) injection. Each study parameter (animal strain, pathogen, comparator(s), and dosing schedule) can be customized to meet client needs.

The endpoint for this study is CFU burden in harvested tissues and/or blood. Pharmacokinetic profiling, blood chemistry, additional tissue harvests, and histology are available upon request.

Pathogens
TransPharm has a validated otitis media model using the following pathogen:

• Streptococcus pneumoniae
  • Serotype 6B

Additional validations are available upon request.