In Vitro Activity of Aztreonam-Avibactam against Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated by Clinical Laboratories in 40 Countries from 2012 to 2015

• Published in: Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 2017-09, Vol.61 (9)
• Main Authors: Karlowsky, James A, Kazmierczak, Krystyna M, de Jonge, Boudewijn L M, Hackel, Meredith A, Sahm, Daniel F, Bradford, Patricia A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Azabicyclo Compounds; Azabicyclo Compounds - pharmacology; Aztreonam; Aztreonam - pharmacology; beta-Lactamase Inhibitors - pharmacology; beta-Lactamases - metabolism; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriaceae - drug effects; Epidemiology and Surveillance; Humans; Meropenem; Microbial Sensitivity Tests - methods; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - drug effects; Pseudomonas Infections - drug therapy; Thienamycins - pharmacology
• ISSN: 0066-4804; 1098-6596
• DOI: 10.1128/AAC.00472-17

The combination of the monobactam aztreonam and the non-β-lactam β-lactamase inhibitor avibactam is currently in clinical development for the treatment of serious infections caused by metallo-β-lactamase (MBL)-producing , a difficult-to-treat subtype of carbapenem-resistant for which therapeutic options are currently very limited. The present study tested clinically significant isolates of ( = 51,352) and ( = 11,842) collected from hospitalized patients in 208 medical center laboratories from 40 countries from 2012 to 2015 for susceptibility to aztreonam-avibactam, aztreonam, and comparator antimicrobial agents using a standard broth microdilution methodology. Avibactam was tested at a fixed concentration of 4 μg/ml in combination with 2-fold dilutions of aztreonam. The MIC s of aztreonam-avibactam and aztreonam were 0.12 and 64 μg/ml, respectively, for all isolates; >99.9% of all isolates and 99.8% of meropenem-nonsusceptible isolates ( = 1,498) were inhibited by aztreonam-avibactam at a concentration of ≤8 μg/ml. PCR and DNA sequencing identified 267 isolates positive for MBL genes (NDM, VIM, IMP); all carrying MBLs demonstrated aztreonam-avibactam MICs of ≤8 μg/ml and a MIC of 1 μg/ml. Against all isolates tested, the MIC of both aztreonam-avibactam and aztreonam was 32 μg/ml; against MBL-positive isolates ( = 452), MIC values for aztreonam-avibactam and aztreonam were 32 and 64 μg/ml, respectively. The current study demonstrated that aztreonam-avibactam possesses potent activity against a recent, sizeable global collection of clinical isolates, including isolates that were meropenem nonsusceptible, and against MBL-positive isolates of , for which there are few treatment options.