Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1999 Sep;37(9):3068-71.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.37.9.3068-3071.1999.

Interactions between methicillin and vancomycin in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains displaying different phenotypes of vancomycin susceptibility

R A Howe  1 , M Wootton, P M Bennett, A P MacGowan, T R Walsh
Affiliations

Interactions between methicillin and vancomycin in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains displaying different phenotypes of vancomycin susceptibility

R A Howe et al. J Clin Microbiol. 1999 Sep.

Abstract

Vancomycin-sensitive, -intermediate, and -heterointermediate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates were tested by using E-tests to explore the interaction of methicillin and vancomycin. For the vancomycin-intermediate and -heterointermediate strains both drugs showed antagonism at concentrations below their MICs but synergy at methicillin concentrations near the MIC. This property could be used to screen for heterointermediate S. aureus strains.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Vancomycin (VA) E-test strips on BHI agar containing 10 mg of methicillin inoculated with Mu50 (A), Mu3 (B), and Smh6250 (C) show antagonism at low antimicrobial concentrations.
FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Vancomycin (VA) E-test strips on BHI agar containing 10 mg of methicillin inoculated with Mu50 (A), Mu3 (B), and Smh6250 (C) show antagonism at low antimicrobial concentrations.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
Vancomycin (VA) and methicillin (ME) E-test strips on BHI agar inoculated with Smh6250 (A), Smh2 (B), and Mu50 (C) show synergy at high methicillin concentrations.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
Vancomycin (VA) and methicillin (ME) E-test strips on BHI agar inoculated with Smh6250 (A), Smh2 (B), and Mu50 (C) show synergy at high methicillin concentrations.
FIG. 3
FIG. 3
Agar dilution checkerboard tests performed by using Smh2 preincubated in Trypticase soy broth without vancomycin (A) and with 8 mg of vancomycin per liter (B). Fractional inhibitory concentrations are given at appropriate points.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control. Staphylococcus aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin—United States, 1997. Morbid Mortal Weekly Rep. 1997;46:765–766. - PubMed
    1. Chambers H F. Methicillin resistance in staphylococci: molecular and biochemical basis and clinical implications. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1997;10:781–791. - PMC - PubMed
    1. de Lencastre H, Figueiredo A M S, Tomasz A. Genetic control of population structure in heterogeneous strains of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 1993;12(Suppl. 1):S13–S18. - PubMed
    1. Eliopoulos E M, Moellering R C. Antimicrobial combinations. In: Lorian V, editor. Antibiotics in laboratory medicine. 4th ed. Baltimore, Md: The Williams and Wilkins Co.; 1996. pp. 330–396.
    1. Hiramatsu K, Aritaka N, Hanaki H, Kawasaki S, Hosoda Y, Hori S. Dissemination in Japanese hospitals of strains of Staphylococcus aureus heterogeneously resistant to vancomycin. Lancet. 1997;350:1670–1673. - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources