Susceptibility of Klebsiella spp. to tigecycline and other selected antibiotics.
BACKGROUND
Tigecycline is a new glycylcycline with broad-spectrum activity. Among these new agents, tigecycline is unique in generally having good activity against Gram-negative bacteria. Tigecycline has been approved for the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections and complicated skin and skin structure infections. Tigecycline had good activity against most ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae and may be a therapeutic alternative to carbapenems in some infections caused by ESBL-producing isolates, many of which are also multiresistant to quinolones, aminoglycosides, and classical tetracyclines.


METHODS
One hundred and eight clinical isolates of Klebsiella spp. (64 K. pneumoniae and 44 K. oxytoca) were included. The susceptibility to selected antibiotics was tested by the disk-diffusion method. Tigecycline's MIC was determined by the Etest.


RESULTS
Of all the analyzed Klebsiella spp. strains, 31 (28.7%) produced ESBLs. Most of the Klebsiella spp. strains were susceptible to imipenem (100%), tigecycline (92.5%), and the combination of piperacilline and tazobactam (80.6%). Tigecycline exhibited high activity against Klebsiella strains, with MICs ranging from 0.19 to 4 microg/ml.


CONCLUSIONS
Tigecycline demonstrated excellent inhibitory activity against the analyzed strains. These data suggest that tigecycline, with an expanded broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, may be an effective therapeutic option for the treatment of serious infections caused by Klebsiella strains.
Department of Microbiology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Ludwik Rydygiers Collegium Medicum, Bydgoszcz, Poland. ala.sek@wp.pl
Alicja
A
Sekowska
Eugenia
E
Gospodarek
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003428:Cross Infection; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007709:Klebsiella / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D007710:Klebsiella Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008911:Minocycline / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000078304:Tigecycline; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000378:metabolism
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000078304:Tigecycline; D001618:beta-Lactamases; D008911:Minocycline