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
Comparative Study
. 2016 Jun;54(6):1586-1592.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.00298-16. Epub 2016 Apr 6.

In Vitro Comparison of Ertapenem, Meropenem, and Imipenem against Isolates of Rapidly Growing Mycobacteria and Nocardia by Use of Broth Microdilution and Etest

Barbara A Brown-Elliott  1 , Jessica Killingley  1 , Sruthi Vasireddy  1 , Linda Bridge  1 , Richard J Wallace Jr  2
Affiliations
Comparative Study

In Vitro Comparison of Ertapenem, Meropenem, and Imipenem against Isolates of Rapidly Growing Mycobacteria and Nocardia by Use of Broth Microdilution and Etest

Barbara A Brown-Elliott et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2016 Jun.

Abstract

We compared the activities of the carbapenems ertapenem, meropenem, and imipenem against 180 isolates of rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) and 170 isolates of Nocardia using the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. A subset of isolates was tested using the Etest. The rate of susceptibility to ertapenem and meropenem was limited and less than that to imipenem for the RGM. Analysis of major and minor discrepancies revealed that >90% of the isolates of Nocardia had higher MICs by the broth microdilution method than by Etest, in contrast to the lower broth microdilution MICs seen for >80% of the RGM. Imipenem remains the most active carbapenem against RGM, including Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. abscessus For Nocardia, imipenem was significantly more active only against Nocardia farcinica Although there may be utility in testing the activities of the newer carbapenems against Nocardia, their activities against the RGM should not be routinely tested. Testing by Etest is not recommended by the CLSI.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Griffith DE, Aksamit T, Brown-Elliott BA, Catanzaro A, Daley C, Gordin F, Holland SM, Horsburgh R, Huitt G, Iademarco MF, Iseman M, Olivier K, Ruoss S, von Reyn CF, Wallace RJ Jr, Winthrop K. 2007. An official ATS/IDSA statement: diagnosis, treatment and prevention of nontuberculous mycobacterial diseases. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 175:367–416. doi:10.1164/rccm.200604-571ST. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brown-Elliott BA, Brown JM, Conville PS, Wallace RJ Jr. 2006. Clinical and laboratory features of the Nocardia spp. based on current molecular taxonomy. Clin Microbiol Rev 19:259–282. doi:10.1128/CMR.19.2.259-282.2006. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brown-Elliott BA, Crist CJ, Spencer BG, Wallace RJ Jr. 2005. Comparison of in vitro activity of imipenem (IPM), meropenem (MER), and ertapenem (ERT) against isolates of rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM), p 569. Abstr 105th Gen Meet Am Soc Microbiol, Atlanta, GA American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC.
    1. Crist CJ, Brown-Elliott BA, Mann LB, Wallace RJ Jr. 2003. Susceptibility of newer agents including gatifloxacin, moxifloxacin, meropenem, and tigecycline against the genus Nocardia, p 648 Abstr 103rd Gen Meet Am Soc Microbiol, Washington, DC American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC.
    1. Leao SC, Tortoli E, Euzeby JP, Garcia MJ. 2011. Proposal that Mycobacterium massiliense and Mycobacterium bolletii be united and reclassified as Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. bolletii comb. nov., designation of Mycobacterium abscessus subsp. abscessus subsp. nov. and emended description of Mycobacterium abscessus. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 61(Pt 9):2311–2313. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.023770-0. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources