Abstract
Ampicillin, fusidic acid, gentamicin, imipenem, mezlocillin, ofloxacin, penicillin G, piperacillin, and vancomycin were examined for inhibitory and bactericidal activity in various broth media against 7 clinical isolates of Streptococcus faecalis. On a weight-for-weight basis, ampicillin, imipenem, mezlocillin, and ofloxacin proved to be more efficacious. All enterococcal isolates were resistant against gentamicin; fusidic acid and vancomycin lacked bactericidal activity. The combinations of either ampicillin, imipenem, mezlocillin, ofloxacin, piperacillin, or vancomycin with a subinhibitory concentration (4 micrograms/ml) of gentamicin, with or without added 65% (v/v) fresh defibrinated human blood, respectively, yielded additive effects against all enterococcal isolates. The addition of fresh human blood failed to enhance the antienterococcal activity of 4 micrograms/ml of gentamicin; in contrast, addition of 65% (v/v) fresh or heat-inactivated (56 degrees C, 30 min) normal rabbit, bovine, and human sera augmented the activity of gentamicin, an effect that was ablated through the addition of either 0.005 M DTT or 0.01 M MgCl2 + 0.01 M EGTA + 0.01 M CaCl2, supplements known to antagonize human serum beta-lysin, but not lysozyme activity.
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