gentamicin-sulfate and ceftobiprole

In phase 3 clinical trials for ceftobiprole treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections, 1,219 gram-positive and 276 gram-negative aerobic baseline pathogens were identified. Ceftobiprole inhibited all staphylococcal isolates, including methicillin-resistant strains, at MICs of

Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Cephalosporins; Enterobacteriaceae; Gram-Negative Bacteria; Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections; Gram-Positive Bacteria; Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections; Humans; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Skin Diseases, Bacterial; Staphylococcus

Ceftobiprole, an anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus broad-spectrum cephalosporin, has activity (MIC for 50% of strains tested, < or =4 microg/ml) against many Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. A common mechanism of P. aeruginosa resistance to beta-lactams, including cefepime and ceftazidime, is efflux via increased expression of Mex pumps, especially MexAB. MexXY has differential substrate specificity, recognizing cefepime but not ceftazidime. In ceftobiprole clinical studies, paired isolates of P. aeruginosa from four subjects demonstrated ceftobiprole MICs of 2 to 4 microg/ml at baseline but 16 microg/ml posttreatment, unrelated to beta-lactamase levels. Within each pair, the level of mexXY RNA, but not mexAB, mexCD, and mexEF, increased by an average of 50-fold from baseline to posttreatment isolates. Sequencing of the negative regulatory gene mexZ indicated that each posttreatment isolate contained a mutation not present at baseline. mexXY expression as a primary ceftobiprole and cefepime resistance mechanism was further examined in isogenic pairs by using cloned mexXY and mexZ. Expression of cloned mexXY in strain PAO1 or in a baseline isolate increased the ceftobiprole MIC to that for the posttreatment isolate. In contrast, in posttreatment isolates, lowering mexXY expression via introduction of cloned mexZ decreased the ceftobiprole MIC to that for the baseline isolates. Similar changes were observed for cefepime. A spontaneous mutant selectively overexpressing mexXY displayed a fourfold elevation in its ceftobiprole MIC, while overexpression of mexAB, -CD, and -EF had a minimal effect. These data indicate that ceftobiprole, like cefepime, is an atypical beta-lactam that is a substrate for the MexXY efflux pump in P. aeruginosa.

Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bacterial Proteins; Cefepime; Cephalosporins; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; Gene Expression; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction