Abstract
BackgroundInterest in carbapenems has been rising in the last few years due to the emergence of drug resistant tuberculosis. Ertapenem (ETP), given once a day parenteral, and faropenem (FAR), oral, have a better administration profile than meropenem (MEM), imipenem (IPM) and doripenem (DOR). The addition of amoxicillin-clavulanate (AMC) inhibits the hydrolysis by the carbapenemase present in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB).The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro activity of ETP and FAR against susceptible and resistant clinical MTB strains by two widely use methodologies, the BACTEC960 MGIT and microdilution.Results19 clinical isolates with different susceptibility profiles and H37Rv were included. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) testing was performed using two methods of different concentrations of ETP and FAR with and without AMC.MIC50 was 2 and 8 for FAR with and without AMC by both methods. MIC90 was > 16 and > 8 by microdilution and MGIT respectively and did not change after AMC addition.18/20 samples were resistant to the highest concentration of ETP, with and without AMC. Half of the samples had some susceptibility to FAR; addition of AMC further reduced the MIC level in seven isolates.10/20 isolates showed susceptibility to FAR and the addition of AMC further reduced the MIC in 7 isolates. However, most of the MICs were near the limit of effectiveness (8 μg/mL).Resistance to FAR was associated with resistance to MEM (p = 0.04) but not to resistance profiles of other drugs, including M/XDR status.ConclusionsThe lack of ETP activity may be associated with its degradation, independent of carbapenemase, during incubation.No susceptibility pattern to traditional drugs can predict susceptibility to FAR and susceptibility testing is not routinely available. PK/PD studies are needed as reaching the concentrations tested in these experiments may be challenging.This work highlighted some of the limitations of carbapenem use. More evidence is needed to clarify their true impact in TB treatment and outcome, considering the financial burden, complications and microbiota changes associated with their use.
Highlights
Interest in carbapenems has been rising in the last few years due to the emergence of drug resistant tuberculosis
Gonzalo et al BMC Microbiology (2020) 20:271 (Continued from previous page) in TB treatment and outcome, considering the financial burden, complications and microbiota changes associated with their use
MIC90 was > 16 and > 8 by microdilution and Mycobacterium growth incubator tube (MGIT) respectively and they did not change after the addition of clavulanic acid
Summary
Interest in carbapenems has been rising in the last few years due to the emergence of drug resistant tuberculosis. The addition of amoxicillin-clavulanate (AMC) inhibits the hydrolysis by the carbapenemase present in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro activity of ETP and FAR against susceptible and resistant clinical MTB strains by two widely use methodologies, the BACTEC960 MGIT and microdilution. Ertapenem (ETP) and imipenem (IPM) had been reported as being the most efficient L,D transpeptidase inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) [2]. Other studies showed that meropenem (MEM) was the most stable carbapenem in the presence of the chromosomally encoded blaC beta-lactamase [5] and that the addition of clavulanate, a beta-lactamase inhibitor, improved carbapenem activity, since this compound irreversibly inhibits the blaC enzyme present in MTB [6, 7]. Laboratory data on drug efficacy and specificity are variable, and a wide range of MICs for these drugs are reported [8, 9]
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