Skip to main content
PMC home page
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy logoLink to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
. 1997 Jan;41(1):60–65. doi: 10.1128/aac.41.1.60

Comparative activities of new fluoroquinolones, alone or in combination with amoxicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, or rifampin, against intracellular Listeria monocytogenes.

C Michelet 1, J L Avril 1, C Arvieux 1, C Jacquelinet 1, N Vu 1, F Cartier 1
PMCID: PMC163660  PMID: 8980755

Abstract

We studied the activities of the new fluoroquinolones clinafloxacin, levofloxacin, ofloxacin, and sparfloxacin alone or in combination on the intracellular growth of Listeria monocytogenes. Against intracellular growth of the four strains tested, a similar reduction of the bacterial count was obtained with clinafloxacin at the dose of 10 x MIC (delta log10 CFU/ml = -2.19 +/- 0.24), with levofloxacin at 8 x MIC (delta log10 CFU/ml = -2.28 +/- 0.25), and with sparfloxacin at 4 x MIC (delta log10 CFU/ml = -2.16 +/- 0.21) after 24 h of incubation. The combination of the quinolones with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole or amoxicillin did not show a substantial increase in activity compared to the fluoroquinolone alone. Antagonism with rifampin was strongly suggested. No modification of the MIC was observed after 20 successive infections of HeLa cells and contact with subinhibitory concentrations of clinafloxacin, levofloxacin, and sparfloxacin for 24 h. We conclude that clinafloxacin, levofloxacin, or sparfloxacin could represent a therapeutic alternative to amoxicillin for the treatment of Listeria infections in adults, especially clinafloxacin, whose MIC is low (0.06 to 0.12 micrograms/ml), and whose best activity against intracellular L. monocytogenes was obtained at a concentration of 1.2 micrograms/ml, which is similar to clinically achievable levels. The results must be confirmed in an experimental model.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (224.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anderson R., Jooné G. K. In vitro investigation of the intraphagocytic bioactivities of ciprofloxacin and the new fluoroquinolone agents, clinafloxacin (CI-960) and PD 131628. Chemotherapy. 1993 Nov-Dec;39(6):424–431. doi: 10.1159/000238988. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Carlier M. B., Scorneaux B., Zenebergh A., Desnottes J. F., Tulkens P. M. Cellular uptake, localization and activity of fluoroquinolones in uninfected and infected macrophages. J Antimicrob Chemother. 1990 Oct;26 (Suppl B):27–39. doi: 10.1093/jac/26.suppl_b.27. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Charpentier E., Gerbaud G., Jacquet C., Rocourt J., Courvalin P. Incidence of antibiotic resistance in Listeria species. J Infect Dis. 1995 Jul;172(1):277–281. doi: 10.1093/infdis/172.1.277. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cossart P., Mengaud J. Listeria monocytogenes. A model system for the molecular study of intracellular parasitism. Mol Biol Med. 1989 Oct;6(5):463–474. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Drugeon H. B., Courtieu A. L. Comparaison des pouvoirs bactéricides de 4 aminosides: amikacine, gentamicine, kanamycine et tobramycine. Ann Microbiol (Paris) 1979 Apr;130A(3):331–343. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Friedland I. R., Paris M., Ehrett S., Hickey S., Olsen K., McCracken G. H., Jr Evaluation of antimicrobial regimens for treatment of experimental penicillin- and cephalosporin-resistant pneumococcal meningitis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1993 Aug;37(8):1630–1636. doi: 10.1128/aac.37.8.1630. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Friedrich L. V., White R. L., Reboli A. C. Pharmacodynamics of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in Listeria meningitis: a case report. Pharmacotherapy. 1990;10(4):301–304. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gaillard J. L., Berche P., Mounier J., Richard S., Sansonetti P. In vitro model of penetration and intracellular growth of Listeria monocytogenes in the human enterocyte-like cell line Caco-2. Infect Immun. 1987 Nov;55(11):2822–2829. doi: 10.1128/iai.55.11.2822-2829.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Michelet C., Avril J. L., Cartier F., Berche P. Inhibition of intracellular growth of Listeria monocytogenes by antibiotics. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1994 Mar;38(3):438–446. doi: 10.1128/aac.38.3.438. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Pinède L., Manquat G., Barnoud D., Croize J., Guignier M., Stahl J. P., Micoud M. Listériose neuroméningée de l'adulte. Aspects cliniques et apport du cotrimoxazole en monothérapie. Presse Med. 1993 Oct 9;22(30):1385–1390. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Richard P., Gutmann L. Sparfloxacin and other new fluoroquinolones. J Antimicrob Chemother. 1992 Dec;30(6):739–744. doi: 10.1093/jac/30.6.739. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Spitzer P. G., Hammer S. M., Karchmer A. W. Treatment of Listeria monocytogenes infection with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole: case report and review of the literature. Rev Infect Dis. 1986 May-Jun;8(3):427–430. doi: 10.1093/clinids/8.3.427. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Tulkens P. M. Intracellular distribution and activity of antibiotics. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 1991 Feb;10(2):100–106. doi: 10.1007/BF01964420. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. van Ogtrop M. L., Mattie H., Sekh B. R., van Strijen E., van Furth R. Comparison of the antibacterial efficacies of ampicillin and ciprofloxacin against experimental infections with Listeria monocytogenes in hydrocortisone-treated mice. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1992 Nov;36(11):2375–2380. doi: 10.1128/aac.36.11.2375. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES