Skip to main content
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy logoLink to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
. 1997 Jun;41(6):1403–1405. doi: 10.1128/aac.41.6.1403

In vitro assessment of the effect of clavulanic acid at concentrations achieved in human serum on the bactericidal activity of amoxicillin at physiological concentrations against Staphylococcus aureus: implications for dosage regimens.

L Aguilar 1, M Martín 1, I P Balcabao 1, M L Gómez-Lus 1, R Dal-Ré 1, J Prieto 1
PMCID: PMC163926  PMID: 9174210

Abstract

The effects on Staphylococcus aureus viability and beta-lactamase activity of concentrations that simulated those in human serum after a combined dose of 875 mg of amoxicillin and 125 mg of clavulanic acid were studied in an in vitro pharmacodynamic model. Six hours of preexposure to concentrations of the amoxicillin-clavulanic acid combination that were higher than the amoxicillin-clavulanic acid MIC led to a reduction of the initial inoculum of >90% and to a significant decrease of beta-lactamase activity versus those of the control even from 6 h, when concentrations were subinhibitory. The postantibiotic effect and post-beta-lactamase inhibitor effect contributed to these results.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (123.2 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Adam D., de Visser I., Koeppe P. Pharmacokinetics of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid administered alone and in combination. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1982 Sep;22(3):353–357. doi: 10.1128/aac.22.3.353. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Fraschini F., Scaglione F., Falchi M., Dugnani S., Mezzetti M., Cicchetti F., Alfano G., Pintucci G. P. Pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid after oral administration in man. J Chemother. 1990 Jun;2(3):171–177. doi: 10.1080/1120009x.1990.11739013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gillissen G., Hasse G. L'acide clavulanique. Son effet sur le staphylocoque doré outre l'effet inhibiteur sur les bêtalactamases. Pathol Biol (Paris) 1987 May;35(5):503–506. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. McDonald P. J., Craig W. A., Kunin C. M. Persistent effect of antibiotics on Staphylococcus aureus after exposure for limited periods of time. J Infect Dis. 1977 Feb;135(2):217–223. doi: 10.1093/infdis/135.2.217. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. O'Callaghan C. H., Morris A., Kirby S. M., Shingler A. H. Novel method for detection of beta-lactamases by using a chromogenic cephalosporin substrate. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1972 Apr;1(4):283–288. doi: 10.1128/aac.1.4.283. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Odenholt-Tornqvist I., Löwdin E., Cars O. Pharmacodynamic effects of subinhibitory concentrations of beta-lactam antibiotics in vitro. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1991 Sep;35(9):1834–1839. doi: 10.1128/aac.35.9.1834. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Vogelman B., Gudmundsson S., Leggett J., Turnidge J., Ebert S., Craig W. A. Correlation of antimicrobial pharmacokinetic parameters with therapeutic efficacy in an animal model. J Infect Dis. 1988 Oct;158(4):831–847. doi: 10.1093/infdis/158.4.831. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES