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. 1983 Dec;24(6):936–940. doi: 10.1128/aac.24.6.936

Cefoxitin inactivation by Bacteroides fragilis.

G J Cuchural Jr, F P Tally, N V Jacobus, P K Marsh, J W Mayhew
PMCID: PMC185411  PMID: 6660860

Abstract

We have surveyed the susceptibility of 1,575 clinical isolates of the Bacteroides fragilis group of organisms to cefoxitin and eight other antimicrobial agents. Eleven isolates, 0.7% of the total, were highly cefoxitin resistant and had minimum inhibitory concentrations of greater than or equal to 64 micrograms/ml. These isolates were also resistant to other beta-lactam antibiotics. Of 11 isolates, 4 were able to inactivate cefoxitin in broth cultures, as measured by microbiological and high-pressure liquid chromatography assays. Two distinct patterns of cefoxitin breakdown products were detected by high-pressure liquid chromatography analysis. The beta-lactamase inhibitors clavulanic acid and sulbactam failed to show synergism with cefoxitin. These data demonstrate that members of the B. fragilis group have acquired a novel resistance mechanism enabling them to inactivate cefoxitin.

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Selected References

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

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