Microbiological interaction studies between ceftazidime-avibactam and pulmonary surfactant and between ceftazidime-avibactam and antibacterial agents of other classes.

For an antibacterial agent to be considered for clinical studies in nosocomial pneumonia (NP), it should be active in the presence of pulmonary surfactant. Furthermore, owing to the common practice of treating such infections with more than one antibacterial agent, it should be free of antagonistic interactions with agents of other classes. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effect of pulmonary surfactant on the activity of ceftazidime and ceftazidime-avibactam and to determine the interaction (if any) of ceftazidime-avibactam and six antimicrobial agents common in the treatment of NP. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination for ceftazidime and ceftazidime-avibactam was performed with and without the presence of four concentrations of bovine pulmonary surfactant, and a chequerboard assay was used to determine any interaction between ceftazidime and ceftazidime-avibactam with tobramycin, levofloxacin, linezolid, vancomycin, tigecycline and colistin. Here we report that the in vitro antimicrobial activity of ceftazidime-avibactam against ß-lactamase-producing Gram-negative bacteria remained unaltered in the presence of pulmonary surfactant at concentrations that antagonised the antimicrobial activity of daptomycin. Furthermore, in chequerboard interaction studies, an absence of antagonism was demonstrated between ceftazidime-avibactam and six antimicrobial agents of different classes when tested against aerobic species frequently isolated from NP. The results support the further investigation of ceftazidime-avibactam as a potential treatment for NP caused by susceptible bacteria.

Ertapenem resistance among Klebsiella and Enterobacter submitted in the UK to a reference laboratory.

The emergence of carbapenem resistance in Enterobacteriaceae represents a major public health concern. We investigated ertapenem-resistant clinical isolates of Klebsiella spp. and Enterobacter spp. referred to the UK's national reference laboratory for antibiotic resistance. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined and interpreted according to British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy guidelines. Genes for carbapenemases and CTX-M extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) were sought by polymerase chain reaction, and imipenem hydrolysis was determined by spectrophotometry with crude extracts. From June 2004 to April 2006, 95 Klebsiella spp. and 76 Enterobacter spp. isolates resistant to ertapenem (MICs >2mg/L) were received, 40% of which (38 Klebsiella spp. and 30 Enterobacter spp.) were highly resistant to ertapenem (MICs >16mg/L). Imipenem and meropenem were active (geometric mean MICs <2mg/L) against most isolates with low-level ertapenem resistance but were less active against highly ertapenem-resistant isolates. Only one ertapenem-resistant isolate produced a defined carbapenemase, a Klebsiella pneumoniae with IMP-1 enzyme; one Enterobacter sp. also hydrolysed imipenem, but its carbapenemase remains to be identified. Geometric mean MICs of ertapenem for the collection were reduced five-fold by clavulanic acid for Klebsiella spp. compared with eight-fold by cloxacillin for Enterobacter spp. This study highlights the fact that ertapenem resistance is being detected in Klebsiella spp. and Enterobacter spp. in the UK, but that it is rarely mediated by true carbapenemases. Rather, it probably results from combinations of a beta-lactamase - often a CTX-M ESBL in Klebsiella spp. or an AmpC enzyme in Enterobacter spp. - plus impermeability and/or increased efflux. Imipenem and meropenem often remain moderately active against isolates with low-level ertapenem resistance.