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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, December 2001, p. 3629-3630, Vol. 45, No. 12
Laboratorio Interdisciplinario de
Investigación Dermatológica, Servicio de Dermatologia,
Hospital Universitario, Monterrey, N.L., México
Received 6 November 2000/Returned for modification 3 June
2001/Accepted 14 September 2001
The in vitro activity of a novel oxazolidinone, linezolid, was
studied by comparing the activity of linezolid with those of amikacin,
trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid against
25 strains of Nocardia brasiliensis isolated from patients
with mycetoma. All N. brasiliensis strains tested were sensitive to linezolid (MIC at which 90% of strains are inhibited [MIC90], 2 µg/ml; MIC50, 1 µg/ml). This
antimicrobial might constitute a good alternative for treatment of actinomycetoma.
Mycetoma is a localized but
progressive infectious disease of the skin, subcutaneous tissues, bone,
and adjacent organs that is characterized by firm tumefaction of the
affected site, nodules, abscesses, and sinuses that drain pus
containing grains or granules (15). This infection is
produced by a wide variety of etiologic agents, which can be either
bacteria or fungi (15). Worldwide, about 60% of the
mycetoma cases are caused by aerobic actinomycetes, but in Mexico, 98%
of the cases are caused by bacteria and only 2% are caused by true
fungi (6). The infecting microorganisms can be introduced
through the skin by minor trauma, such as that inflicted by a thorn or
splinter contaminated with soil containing the etiologic agent. The
causative agents of mycetoma vary from region to region. In Mexico,
86% of the cases are caused by Nocardia brasiliensis and
the remainder are caused by Actinomadura madurae and other
actinomycetes (6). Sulfonamides, particularly
sulfamethoxazole combined with trimethoprim (SXT), are the treatment of
choice for actinomycetoma (14). One of the disadvantages
of this therapeutic scheme is that sulfonamides must be given for
several months, even years, and achieve only a 70% cure rate. In 1987, a therapy for disseminated or hard-to-treat cases of actinomycetoma
that consisted of amikacin alone or in combination with SXT was
described (13). By this therapeutic scheme with this
combination of antimicrobials, a higher cure rate was obtained in a
shorter period of time than when SXT was used.
In the past 15 years, in our dermatology service, the combination of
amikacin and SXT has been the therapy of choice for severe cases of
mycetoma or those cases recalcitrant to SXT treatment. However, in
isolated cases cure was not always obtained due to the development of
resistance to this therapeutic regimen or to the production of
secondary effects caused by the amikacin treatment, such as mild
ototoxicity or nephrotoxicity, which required the cessation of
treatment (14). Therefore, we have considered it necessary
to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo activities of other antimicrobials
against N. brasiliensis in order to obtain better therapeutic alternatives for the treatment of actinomycetoma.
Linezolid belongs to the oxazolidinone class of synthetic antibacterial
agents that act by inhibiting the process of bacterial protein
synthesis by a novel mechanism (4, 10). In contrast to
other inhibitors of protein synthesis, the oxazolidinones act early in
translation by preventing the formation of a functional initiation
complex (10). Therefore, the possibilities of observing cross-resistance with other drugs are minimal. This drug has a very
wide antimicrobial spectrum including vancomicin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium,
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus anaerobes,
mycobacteria, and other gram-positive microorganisms (1, 2, 3, 5,
8, 9, 16). Since Nocardia and
Mycobacterium are phylogenetically related organisms, it is
possible that linezolid is also effective against Nocardia. In order to analyze this possibility, we decided to evaluate the in
vitro activity of linezolid against 25 clinical isolates of N. brasiliensis obtained from patients with actinomycetoma in our
dermatological clinic and to compare its antibacterial activity with
those of other antimicrobials that have been used for the treatment of
this disease, such as SXT, amikacin, and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid.
Linezolid was obtained from its manufacturer (Pharmacia and Upjohn,
Kalamazoo, Mich.); SXT and amikacin were obtained from Sigma Chemical
Co. (St. Louis, Mo.), and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid was obtained from
commercial sources.
The broth microdilution method that we used has been described before
(12). Briefly, we used fresh colonies on Sabouraud agar (7 days old) to prepare the inoculum. Since N. brasiliensis grows as a firm mycelial mass (11), we prepared a cellular
suspension by placing a couple of loopfuls of the bacterial culture in
a glass test tube and ground the bacterial culture to suspend part of
the bacterial mass. The ground colonies were suspended in 1 ml of
saline solution and were diluted with cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth until the turbidity matched that of a 0.5 McFarland standard. This suspension was diluted to obtain a solution with a final concentration of 1 × 104 to 5 × 104
CFU per well in 0.1 ml. This solution was added to microplate wells
(Microtest Primaria; Becton Dickinson and Co., Franklin Lakes, N.J.)
containing an equal volume of broth with serial dilutions of the drugs
to be tested. As a growth control we inoculated in the same way a well
containing cation-adjusted Mueller Hinton broth without drug. After 3 days of incubation at 35°C, the plates were read and the MIC was
determined as the lowest concentration of drug that totally inhibited
nocardial growth. For the sulfonamides, we considered the MIC to be the
lowest concentration that inhibited 80% of the growth compared with
the amount of growth in the control well. As external controls we used
Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and S. aureus ATCC
29213. Linezolid, amikacin, and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid
(Augmentin) were tested at concentrations of 64 to 0.25 µg/ml according to the guidelines of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (7). The combination of trimethoprim
and sulfamethoxazole (ratio, 1:20) was tested at concentrations ranging from 76/4 to 0.29/0.015 µg/ml.
The MICs of linezolid and the other antimicrobial agents tested for the
25 clinical isolates of N. brasiliensis tested are summarized in Table 1. Linezolid
demonstrated in vitro activity against all isolates tested (MICs, <4
µg/ml). The activity of linezolid was comparable to those of SXT and
amikacin, which are, to date, the best therapeutic choices for the
treatment of actinomycetoma. The combination of amoxicillin-clavulanic
acid was active, although the MIC was above 4 µg/ml for 4% of
the strains tested.
0066-4804/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.45.12.3629-3630.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
In Vitro Activity of PNU-100766 (Linezolid), a New Oxazolidinone
Antimicrobial, against Nocardia brasiliensis
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TABLE 1.
Activities of linezolid and other antimicrobial agents
against clinical isolates of N. brasiliensis
It appears that the primary activity of linezolid is against gram-positive microorganisms, but it has a broad spectrum of activity, with activity against staphylococci, enterococci, streptococci, and some actinomycetes (1, 2, 8, 9). Our results support the fact that this drug is quite active against all the N. brasiliensis isolates tested. Although we have evaluated other drugs in vitro, they have not been as active as linezolid against all the strains tested (data not shown). On the other hand, linezolid had homogeneous antibacterial activity against 100% of the N. brasiliensis isolates tested. Given the in vitro results described here, linezolid could be an excellent drug for the treatment of patients with actinomycetoma.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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We acknowledge the support of the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) (grant 31015-M).
We thank R. M. Chandler-Burns for critical reading of the manuscript.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Servicio de Dermatologia, Hospital Universitario, Madero y Gonzalitos, Colonia Mitras Centro, C.P. 64460, Monterrey, N.L., México. Phone: (528) 348 03 83. Fax: (528) 348 44 07. E-mail: owelsh{at}yahoo.com.
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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, December 2001, p. 3629-3630, Vol. 45, No. 12
0066-4804/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.45.12.3629-3630.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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