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Biomedical subjects

A Philippon

Publications and source records attributed to A Philippon.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Klebsiella oxytoca: resistance to aztreonam by overproduction of the chromosomally encoded beta-lactamase.

Aztreonam-resistant Klebsiella oxytoca strain SL7811 was selected on agar containing 1 microgram of aztreonam per ml from a susceptible strain SL781. The MICs for the resistant mutant towards penicillins, aztreonam and ceftriaxone were much higher, to cefotaxime slightly higher and to ceftazidime unchanged. Synthesis of beta-lactamase was 223-fold greater in the mutant compared with the susceptible strain. SL781 and its resistant mutant SL7811 produced beta-lactamase with the same isoelectric point and substrate profile. The beta-lactamase genes from SL781 and SL7811 were cloned in plasmid pBGS18 giving pBOF-1 and pBOF-4 respectively. The sequences of the two putative promoters indicated two modifications in the resistant plasmid pBOF-4: a transversion (G-->T) in the first base of the -10 consensus sequence and a deletion of one C residue four base pairs upstream of the -10 hexamer.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Origin and impact of plasmid-mediated extended-spectrum beta-lactamases.

Resistance to oxyimino cephalosporins was originally highlighted by the emergence of plasmid-encoded extended-spectrum beta-lactamases deriving by mutation from TEM-1, TEM-2 and SHV type enzymes (class A). The broader spectrum of resistance produced by these enzymes is related to more amino acid substitutions, but susceptibility to seven alpha-methoxyimino cephalosporins and carbapenems was preserved until recently. Clavulanate-sensitive extended-spectrum beta-lactamases are distributed worldwide, mainly among Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. Novel clavulanate-sensitive extended-spectrum beta-lactamases deriving from other class A enzymes (e.g. MEN-1 from beta la OXY, OXA-11 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa from PSE-2) have been reported. Recently, clavulanate-resistant extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (class C) were encountered amongst single isolates, mostly Klebsiella pneumoniae. These cephalosporinases or cefamycinases (usually chromosomally mediated) have expanded the spectrum of plasmid-encoded resistance to include seven alpha-methoxyimino cephalosporins. Thus far, only two isolates (1 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 1 Bacteroides fragilis), both recovered in Japan, with plasmid-mediated resistance to carbapenems have been found.

Clavulanic Acids↗

Characterization of a beta-lactamase from Clostridium clostridioforme.

A beta-lactamase-producing strain of Clostridium clostridioforme isolated from human peritoneal fluid was examined by MIC testing and enzyme characterization. MICs of penicillins (64-512 mg/L) were higher than those of cephalosporins (8-128 mg/L); the strain was susceptible to cefoxitin (8 mg/L) and imipenem (1 mg/L). No enhancement of cephalosporin activity occurred when clavulanate was also added, but a limited degree of enhancement of penicillin activity (resulting in beta-lactam MICs higher than available NCCLS breakpoints) occurred when clavulanate, sulbactam or tazobactam was added simultaneously. By contrast, addition of BRL 42715 with amoxycillin, ticarcillin or piperacillin led to a drop in beta-lactam MICs from 512 to < or = 1 mg/L, with a drop from 64 to 1 mg/L when BRL 42715 was added with cefotaxime. All inhibitors were added at fixed concentrations of 2 mg/L. As determined spectrophotometrically, the enzyme hydrolysed penicillin G, cloxacillin and piperacillin (Vmax values (%) 372, 1816, 1001, respectively relative to cephaloridine) more efficiently than cephalosporins (69-191, with cephaloridine as 100%). Km values (microM) varied between 30-308 microM (penicillins) and 2-20 microM (cephalosporins). Relative enzyme efficiency (relative Vmax/Km with cephaloridine as 100) varied from 21-100 (cephalosporins) and 8-77 (penicillins). IC50 values (microM) with nitrocefin, piperacillin and penicillin G substrates (concentrations 20, 100 and 20 microM, respectively) were > 1000, 7, 3.5 (clavulanate); > 1000, 300, 59 (sulbactam), > 1000, 29, 7.7 (tazobactam); 0.0004, 0.001, 0.0018 (BRL 42715). The enzyme was not inhibited by EDTA, cefoxitin, cloxacillin or aztreonam, but was inhibited by pCMB.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Molecular epidemiology of Klebsiella pneumoniae strains that produce SHV-4 beta-lactamase and which were isolated in 14 French hospitals.

Preliminary results suggested that the diffusion in France of the SHV-4 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase was probably due to the spread of one single epidemic strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae. In this study, we tested various phenotypic and genotypic markers to compare K. pneumoniae strains producing this enzyme isolated in 14 French hospitals between 1987 and 1989. All of the strains were of the same capsule serotype, K25. Twelve of them were of the same biotype: weak urease activity and no sucrose fermentation. Among the six plasmid profiles observed, one accounted for eight strains. Large plasmids of 170 kb encoding SHV-4 beta-lactamase were present in all strains of K. pneumoniae and could be transferred by conjugation with high frequency to Escherichia coli J53-2 or HB101 from all except one strain. Plasmid EcoRI restriction patterns suggested that these plasmids were closely related and similar to pUD18 encoding SHV-3 beta-lactamase, originally described in France and differing from SHV-4 by one amino acid substitution. Ribotyping with EcoRI and HindIII and genomic fingerprinting with XbaI by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis were concordant and suggested that 12 of the isolates recovered from the 14 hospitals were probably the same strain. Dissemination in France of the SHV-4 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase was thus essentially due to the diffusion of a single K. pneumoniae clone.

Conjugation, Genetic↗

[Choice of antibiotic therapy for acute streptococcus A sore throat: new bacteriologic data].

The choice of antibiotic therapy for sore throat of bacterial origin must be directed against the beta-haemolytic streptococcus A, or more rarely C and G. Recent bacteriological data confirm the raised and constant antibacterial activity in vitro of penicillins V and G, with minimal inhibitory concentrations (CMI) as low as 0.01 mg/ml. Until now, there have been no resistant or reduced sensitivity strains reported. Those strains reported as "tolerant" to penicillin are not correlated with therapeutic checks. As for strains of "intermediate sensitivity" to penicillin, these should be attributed to effects of the diffusion techniques. In contrast, in France now, 8% of strains of streptococcus A are resistant to macrolides and 60% to tetracyclines. Finally, new data show that the different selective powers of beta-lactamines, especially cephalosporins, introduce risks of modification of the oro-pharingeal ecology, linked in part with transfer of genetic material between commensal streptococci of reduced sensitivity to beta-lactamines to sensitive pneumococci. All these data emphasize the importance of an antibiotic therapy that is directed to streptococcus A, with a strong and constant bactericidal activity, without risk of selection or appearance of strains of resistant streptococcus A, and that will not disturb the long term bacterial ecology of the oro-pharynx. Now, in 1994 phenoxymethylpenicillin, Oracilline, penicillin V has the place of reference in the treatment of bacterial acute sore throat.

Acute Disease↗

[Extended spectrum beta-lactamases].

At least 30 extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESB) have emerged responsible for resistance to indigestible beta-lactams (C3G) since their discovery in West Germany in 1983. Most of them are produced by enterobacteria and essentially K. pneumoniae which appeared susceptible to oxyimino-beta-lactams. A double-disk test was useful to detect such nosocomial isolates of enterobacteria (urines, blood, wound, sputum cultures) mostly recovered from patients in intensive care units. These have spread through hospital and outbreaks were described. Because plasmid-encoded this resistance mechanism was spreading among enterobacteria with other resistance markers (e.g. netilmicin, amikacin). It seems highly likely that the use of newer antibiotics favors the appearance of ESB obtained by selection of mutated genes coding for penicillinases (TEM, SHV). Treatment including a beta-lactam is still possible because of the stability of some beta-lactams e.g. cefamycins, carbapenems and the sensitivity to beta-lactam inhibitors. Digestive selective decontamination may overcome outbreak.

Adult↗

Novel, plasmid-encoded, TEM-derived extended-spectrum beta-lactamase in Klebsiella pneumoniae conferring higher resistance to aztreonam than to extended-spectrum cephalosporins.

A clinical isolate of Klebsiella pneumoniae was more resistant to aztreonam than to cefotaxime and ceftazidime. It produced a clavulanate-susceptible beta-lactamase with an isoelectric point of 6.3 which readily hydrolyzed penicillins, cefotaxime, and ceftazidime, but which hydrolyzed aztreonam poorly. The enzyme was encoded by a gene on a 15-kb plasmid; the gene hybridized with an intragenic DNA probe of blaTEM.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Molecular epidemiology of plasmid spread among extended broad-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in a pediatric hospital.

Over a 12-month period, 43 children in eight different wards of our hospital (Hôpital Robert Debré) were infected or colonized with Klebsiella pneumoniae strains producing extended broad-spectrum beta-lactamases. The epidemiology of the outbreak was studied by a molecular approach including the determination of the beta-lactamase physicochemical parameters and plasmid profiles, as well as analysis of the restriction fragment length polymorphisms of the rDNA regions (ribotyping). The last approach produced 12 and 5 different patterns with EcoRI and HindIII, respectively, thus identifying 15 different ribotypes among the 43 clinical K. pneumoniae strains. However, 60% of the strains in six wards belonged to only two ribotypes, whereas nine ribotypes were observed only once. Twelve isolates from different wards that were representative of the eight most common ribotypes showed four different beta-lactamase isoelectric focusing patterns and seven different plasmid profiles by direct analysis or after EcoRI digestion. Thus, at least two genetically unrelated strains in the same ward were found to have the same plasmid content. Our results show the complexity of the outbreak, which was associated with patient-to-patient cross-contamination with several epidemic strains with different plasmid contents, interspersed sporadic cases with nonepidemic strains, and the possible spread of a plasmid. The combination of plasmid profile analysis and ribotyping therefore seems to be powerful at deciphering the details of such outbreaks.

Adolescent↗

Incidence of two virulence factors (aerobactin and mucoid phenotype) among 190 clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamase.

Because outbreaks of multiple-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases were recently observed in French hospitals, the presence of virulence factors was examined for (i) phenotype by bioassay for aerobactin production and by culture for the mucoid phenotype, and (ii) genotype using intragenic probes of respectively 2-kb BglII and 235-bp BamHI-BglII fragments and dot-blotting among 190 unreplicated K. pneumoniae clinical isolates issued from 25 French hospitals and producing different types of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (TEM-related enzymes: TEM-3, TEM-4, CAZ-1, CAZ-2, TEM-8, or SHV-related enzymes: SHV-2, SHV-3, SHV-4). Only 3.7% and 7% of K. pneumoniae isolates produced aerobactin and mucoid phenotypes respectively, unrelated to type of beta-lactamase. Only 2% had both factors. No discordance was reported according to the detection method tested. The low prevalence of such virulence factors seems to indicate they were not involved in dissemination of nosocomial K. pneumoniae isolates producing an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase.

Cross Infection↗

Two variants of transferrable extended-spectrum TEM-beta-lactamase successively isolated from a clinical Escherichia coli isolate.

In a leukaemic patient presenting a septicaemia treated with ceftazidime and amikacin, two clinical Escherichia coli isolates distinguished by their level of resistance to oxyimino-beta-lactams were isolated at an interval of 24 h. The isolates were identified by biotyping and esterase electrophoretic typing and the two host strains were shown to be identical. However, each of these strains exhibited a different transferrable extended-spectrum beta-lactamase. These enzymes had different pI values (5.25 and 5.58), but were both blaTEM-1 mutants. The enzyme with pI 5.25 was identical to TEM-101 (TEM-12) (serine 162 substitution). The enzyme with pI 5.58 showed an additional amino acid substitution (lysine residue instead of an arginine at position 237) and was denominated TEM-23. These data indicate that point-mutations can be successively cumulated in vivo by blaTEM mutants, leading to expression of beta-lactamases with increased hydrolysis rates.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗

Clinical isolates of Escherichia coli producing TRI beta-lactamases: novel TEM-enzymes conferring resistance to beta-lactamase inhibitors.

Two different strains of Escherichia coli exhibiting unusual patterns of resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics were isolated from patients at Cochin Hospital. Both isolates showed a low level of resistance to amoxycillin, ticarcillin and ureidopenicillins but were susceptible to cephalosporins, aztreonam and imipenem; beta-lactamase inhibitors potentiated the activities of the beta-lactams to only a limited extent. All resistance characteristics of the strains were transferable by conjugation to E. coli K12. Resistance was shown to be due to beta-lactamases of pI 5.20 and relative molecular masses of 24,000. The hydrolytic and inhibition profiles of these enzymes were similar to each other but differed from those of broad-spectrum beta-lactamases (TEM-1). The rates of hydrolysis (Vmax) of amoxycillin (c. 200%) were higher than that for TEM-1 (84%). Ticarcillin, ureidopenicillins and cephaloridine were hydrolyzed slowly. However, as for TEM-1, no hydrolysis was observed with cefoxitin, third generation cephalosporins, aztreonam and imipenem. The high Km values demonstrated the poor affinity of these enzymes for their substrates. Unlike TEM-1, they were poorly inhibited by beta-lactamase inhibitors. These two enzymes differed from each other as follows: (i) the concentrations of clavulanic acid required for 50% beta-lactamase inhibition were 31 mumol/L for one enzyme (E-SAL) and 9.4 mumol/L for the other (E-GUER); (ii) p-chloromercuribenzoate was a more active inhibitor of E-SAL then E-GUER. The titration curve method and DNA-DNA hybridization studies demonstrated that both enzymes were structurally related to TEM-1. The novel plasmid-encoded enzymes produced by the two isolates of E. coli appeared to be almost identical and to be derived from TEM-enzymes. On the basis of their presumed phylogeny and their biological properties, we propose that these beta-lactamases be given the generic name TRI (TEM Resistant to beta-lactamase Inhibitors).

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

A beta-lactamase-overproducing strain of Alcaligenes denitrificans subsp. xylosoxydans isolated from a case of meningitis.

A resistant (R) clinical isolate of Alcaligenes denitrificans subsp. xylosoxydans was recovered from CSF during treatment including piperacillin. This variant selected in vivo, and a second variant obtained in vitro from the initially susceptible (S) strain, both exhibited resistance to penicillins (ticarcillin, piperacillin) and cephalosporins, but remained susceptible to latamoxef and imipenem. Clavulanate (2 mg/L) restored the susceptibility of the two R-variants to penicillins. A beta-lactamase of pI 9.5 was detected in both S and R strains, but overproduction was observed only in the in-vivo and in-vitro R-variants. This inducible beta-lactamase hydrolysed benzylpenicillin, cephalothin and cephaloridine efficiently, but amoxycillin, ticarcillin and cefoperazone were only moderate substrates. The enzyme was inhibited by clavulanate, cloxacillin and imipenem (IC50 between 3 and 9 mM), but not by aztreonam and chloride ions (1 mM). Resistance to beta-lactams was not transferable by conjugation to Escherichia coli or Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and DNA agarose gel electrophoresis indicated that no plasmid was present in the isolates. Restriction patterns of chromosomal DNA isolated from the S and R isolates were similar after digestion by NotI and HindIII.

Adult↗

[Characterization of Alcaligenes species using analysis of esterase electrophoretic polymorphism and analysis of antibiotic resistance profiles].

The species of an Alcaligenes bacterial strain may be difficult to determine on the basis of conventional phenotype features. Esterase pattern analysis using acrylamide-agar gel electrophoresis and determination of the antimicrobial resistance profile (agar diffusion method) were performed for A. faecalis (34 strains). A. denitrificans subsp xylosoxydans (16 strains) and A. piechaudi (5 strains). The Cistat program (D2 Software) was used for statistical representation of results. The homogeneous, species-specific esterase patterns ensured correct assignment of each strain to one of the three species. Antimicrobial susceptibility was greatest for A. faecalis which was susceptible to both cephalosporins of all generations and aminoglycosides. A. xylosoxydans was the species with the greatest resistance to antimicrobials. A. piechaudii exhibited intermediate susceptibility.

Alcaligenes↗