Drug Susceptibility Testing of 31 Antimicrobial Agents on Rapidly Growing Mycobacteria Isolates from China.
OBJECTIVE
Several species of rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) are now recognized as human pathogens. However, limited data on effective drug treatments against these organisms exists. Here, we describe the species distribution and drug susceptibility profiles of RGM clinical isolates collected from four southern Chinese provinces from January 2005 to December 2012.


METHODS
Clinical isolates (73) were subjected to in vitro testing with 31 antimicrobial agents using the cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth microdilution method. The isolates included 55 M. abscessus, 11 M. fortuitum, 3 M. chelonae, 2 M. neoaurum, and 2 M. septicum isolates.


RESULTS
M. abscessus (75.34%) and M. fortuitum (15.07%), the most common species, exhibited greater antibiotic resistance than the other three species. The isolates had low resistance to amikacin, linezolid, and tigecycline, and high resistance to first-line antituberculous agents, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, rifapentine, dapsone, thioacetazone, and pasiniazid. M. abscessus and M. fortuitum were highly resistant to ofloxacin and rifabutin, respectively. The isolates showed moderate resistance to the other antimicrobial agents.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that tigecycline, linezolid, clofazimine, and cefmetazole are appropriate choices for M. abscessus infections. Capreomycin, sulfamethoxazole, tigecycline, clofazimine, and cefmetazole are potentially good choices for M. fortuitum infections. Our drug susceptibility data should be useful to clinicians.
Department of Immunology, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410078, China ; Department of Immunology, Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, Shanxi 046000, China ; State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China.
Hui
H
Pang
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China.
Guilian
G
Li
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China.
Xiuqin
X
Zhao
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China.
Haican
H
Liu
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China.
Kanglin
K
Wan
Department of Immunology, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410078, China.
Ping
P
Yu
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002681:China; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009164:Mycobacterium Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents