TABLE 2.

Reductions in bacterial load, pulmonary lesions, and loss of body weight in rats with pneumonia caused by one S. pneumoniae strain (AR09164) in relation to the time elapsed between challenge and initiation of amoxicillin treatment

Parametera	Time elapsed between bacterial challenge and treatment (time from challenge to necropsy) [no. of animals in untreated/treated group]
	1 h (65 h) [6/6]	24 h (88 h) [7/8]
Difference in log10 CFU/pair of lungs     compared to initial inoculum
Untreated	−0.48 ± 1.03b	−1.11 ± 0.90b
Treated	−2.27 ± 1.09	−2.43 ± 1.00
Extent of lung damage (%)
Untreated	53.96 ± 13.24c	29.29 ± 6.92
Treated	21.25 ± 9.97	21.70 ± 9.97
Relative lung weight (% of body     weight)
Untreated	1.63 ± 0.45c	1.01 ± 0.26
Treated	0.97 ± 0.36	0.87 ± 0.15
Loss of body weight (%)
Untreated	11.80 ± 3.99	9.78 ± 3.84
Treated	7.54 ± 4.02	7.33 ± 4.10

^aValues are means ± SD.

^bValues for untreated and treated groups are significantly different (P < 0.02).

^cValues for untreated and treated groups are significantly different (P < 0.05).