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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2004, p. 1229-1234, Vol. 48, No. 4
0066-4804/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AAC.48.4.1229-1234.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

In Vitro Activities of Piperacillin against ß-Lactamase-Negative Ampicillin-Resistant Haemophilus influenzae

Yodogawa Christian Hospital, Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka,¹ Research Laboratories, Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd., Toyama,² Clinical Research Department, Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan³

Received 7 July 2003/ Returned for modification 6 October 2003/ Accepted 25 November 2003

The in vitro activities of piperacillin (PIP) against ß-lactamase-negative ampicillin (AMP)-resistant (BLNAR) Haemophilus influenzae were compared with those of cefotaxime (CTX) and ceftriaxone (CRO), and the potency of PIP as therapy for meningitis caused by BLNAR is also discussed. PIP showed good activity (MIC at which 90% of strains are inhibited, 0.25 µg/ml) against 69 BLNAR strains, and its activity was comparable to that of CRO and superior to that of CTX. No significant correlation was observed between the MICs of PIP and CTX or CRO or AMP, whereas a high correlation was observed between the MICs of CTX and CRO. In the killing study, PIP showed potent bactericidal activity compared with those of CTX and CRO. By microscopic examination, PIP caused the formation of a spindle and short filamentous cells with bulges and induced cell lysis in BLNAR strains, while treatment with CTX and CRO resulted in the formation of large, spherical cells without any obvious lysis. The affinity of Bocillin FL, a fluorescent penicillin used for determination of the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀s) for penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), to PBPs 3a and 3b of BLNAR strains was drastically decreased compared with that to an AMP-susceptible strain (ATCC 33391). In the case of the BLNAR strains, the IC₅₀s for PBPs 1a, 1b, and 2 were similar to those for the PBPs of ATCC 33391. Since the affinity of binding to PBPs 3a and 3b of the BLNAR strains decreased drastically, the second targets among the PBPs were PBP 2 for PIP, PBP1 (1a and 1b) for CTX and CRO. In conclusion, PIP showed excellent activities against BLNAR strains in a manner different from those of cephem antibiotics, suggesting that it could be a candidate therapeutic agent for the treatment of meningitis caused by BLNAR strains.