Skip to main content
PMC home page
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy logoLink to Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
. 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.

Full text

PDF
940

Selected References

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

  1. Barza M., Tally F. P., Jacobus N. V., Gorbach S. L. In vitro activity of LY127935. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1979 Sep;16(3):287–292. doi: 10.1128/aac.16.3.287. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brown J. E., Del Bene V. E., Collins C. D. In vitro activity of N-formimidoyl thienamycin, moxalactam, and other new beta-lactam agents against Bacteroides fragilis: contribution of beta-lactamase to resistance. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1981 Feb;19(2):248–252. doi: 10.1128/aac.19.2.248. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cuchural G., Jacobus N., Gorbach S. L., Tally F. P. A survey of Bacteroides susceptibility in the United States. J Antimicrob Chemother. 1981 Dec;8 (Suppl 500):27–31. doi: 10.1093/jac/8.suppl_d.27. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Darland G., Birnbaum J. Cefoxitin resistance to beta-lactamase: a major factor for susceptibility of bacteroides fragilis to the antibiotic. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1977 Apr;11(4):725–734. doi: 10.1128/aac.11.4.725. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dornbusch K., Olsson-Lijequist B., Nord C. E. Antibacterial activity of new beta-lactam antibiotics on cefoxitin-resistant strains of Bacteroides fragilis. J Antimicrob Chemother. 1980 Mar;6(2):207–216. doi: 10.1093/jac/6.2.207. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Eley A., Greenwood D. In vitro activity of ceftizoxime against Bacteroides fragilis: comparison with benzylpenicillin, cephalothin, and cefoxitin. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1981 Sep;20(3):332–335. doi: 10.1128/aac.20.3.332. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Jacobus N. V., Ferreira M. C., Barza M. In vitro activity of azthreonam, a monobactam antibiotic. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1982 Nov;22(5):832–838. doi: 10.1128/aac.22.5.832. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Joiner K. A., Lowe B. R., Dzink J. L., Bartlett J. G. Antibiotic levels in infected and sterile subcutaneous abscesses in mice. J Infect Dis. 1981 Mar;143(3):487–494. doi: 10.1093/infdis/143.3.487. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Leung T., Williams J. D. beta-Lactamases of subspecies of Bacteroides fragilis. J Antimicrob Chemother. 1978 Jul;4(B):47–54. doi: 10.1093/jac/4.suppl_b.47. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Malamy M. H., Tally F. P. Mechanisms of drug-resistance transfer in Bacteroides fragilis. J Antimicrob Chemother. 1981 Dec;8 (Suppl 500):59–75. doi: 10.1093/jac/8.suppl_d.59. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. 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]
  12. O'Keefe J. P., Tally F. P., Barza M., Gorbach S. L. Inactivation of penicillin G during experimental infection with Bacteroides fragilis. J Infect Dis. 1978 Apr;137(4):437–442. doi: 10.1093/infdis/137.4.437. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Rashtchian A., Dubes G. R., Booth S. J. Transferable resistance to cefoxitin in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1982 Oct;22(4):701–703. doi: 10.1128/aac.22.4.701. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Sato K., Matsuura Y., Inoue M., Mitsuhashi S. Properties of a new penicillinase type produced by Bacteroides fragilis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1982 Oct;22(4):579–584. doi: 10.1128/aac.22.4.579. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Tally F. P., Jacobus N. V., Bartlett J. G., Gorbach S. L. Susceptibility of anaerobes to cefoxitin and other cephalosporins. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1975 Feb;7(2):128–132. doi: 10.1128/aac.7.2.128. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Tally F. P., McGowan K., Kellum J. M., Gorbach S. L., O'Donnell T. F. A randomized comparison of cefoxitin with or without amikacin and clindamycin plus amikacin in surgical sepsis. Ann Surg. 1981 Mar;193(3):318–323. doi: 10.1097/00000658-198103000-00011. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Tally F. P., O'Keefe J. P., Sullivan N. M., Gorbach S. L. Inactivation of cephalosporins by Bacteroides. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1979 Nov;16(5):565–571. doi: 10.1128/aac.16.5.565. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES