Open AccessEvolution and resistance expression of MRSA. Evaluation of beta-lactam antibiotics against a set of isogenic strains with different types of phenotypic expression.
Author(s) -
Kazumi Asada,
Y Inaba,
Eiko Tateda-Suzuki,
K Kuwahara-Arai,
Teruyo Ito,
Kazumasa Hiramatsu
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
acta biochimica polonica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.452
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1734-154X
pISSN - 0001-527X
DOI - 10.18388/abp.1995_4905
Subject(s) - sulbactam , ampicillin , penicillin binding proteins , penicillin , antibiotics , microbiology and biotechnology , staphylococcus aureus , sccmec , biology , antibiotic resistance , aminoglycoside , methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus , bacteria , genetics , imipenem
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has two mechanisms of resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics; one is mediated by mecA gene expression, and the other by penicillinase production. It has been generally accepted in the clinical field that beta-lactam antibiotics are not the drugs of choice for MRSA infection. In this report, however, ampicillin and penicillin G were shown to have relatively good activity against MRSA if combined with a beta-lactamase inhibitor, sulbactam. These beta-lactam antibiotics were found to have relatively high binding affinities to PBP2', the mecA-encoded MRSA-specific penicillin-binding protein. The possible therapeutic application of sulbactam/ampicillin against MRSA infection in combination with arbekacin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic newly developed and introduced into clinical use in Japan, is discussed.