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
. 2022 Sep 30;77(10):2835-2839.
doi: 10.1093/jac/dkac226.

Activity of mecillinam against carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales

Affiliations

Activity of mecillinam against carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales

Cécile Emeraud et al. J Antimicrob Chemother. .

Abstract

Background: Despite the fact that carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) mostly cause urinary tract infections (UTIs), only few studies have focused on the efficacity of mecillinam against these CRE.

Objectives: To evaluate the mecillinam susceptibility of a huge collection of CRE, including carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) and non-CPE (ESBL and AmpC producers with decreased permeability of the outer membrane).

Methods: A total of 8310 non-duplicate clinical CRE, including 4042 OXA-48-like producers, 1094 NDM producers, 411 VIM producers, 174 KPC producers, 42 IMI producers, 153 multiple-carbapenemase producers and 45 isolates producing other types of carbapenemases (such as IMP-like enzymes or GES-5), were included in the study. WGS was performed on all CPE using Illumina technology. Categorization of susceptibility to mecillinam was performed using disc diffusion (mecillinam discs at 10 μg; I2A, France) according to EUCAST recommendations. The results were interpreted according to EUCAST guidelines (S ≥15 mm).

Results: Significantly higher susceptibility rates were observed for carbapenem-resistant Proteus spp. (85%) and carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli (84%), which are the two most common species responsible for UTIs, than for Klebsiella pneumoniae (67%), Enterobacter cloacae complex (75%), Citrobacter spp. (65%), Serratia spp. (34%) and Morganella morganii (12%). Susceptibility rates were 84%, 71% and 91% for OXA-48-like, NDM and IMI producers and 70% for non-CPE CRE. Mecillinam was less active against VIM and KPC producers (14% and 0%, respectively).

Conclusions: Mecillinam might be an alternative for the treatment of infections due to CRE, particularly UTIs, except for VIM and KPC producers and for M. morganii and Serratia spp species.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Distribution of zone inhibition diameters of mecillinam for clinical CRE, depending on bacterial species (a) and depending on the production or not of carbapenemase enzymes and on the carbapenemase type (b). This figure appears in colour in the online version of JAC and in black and white in the print version of JAC.

References

    1. Naas T, Dortet L, Iorga BI. Structural and functional aspects of class A carbapenemases. Curr Drug Targets 2016; 17: 1006–28. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mojica MF, Bonomo RA, Fast W. B1-metallo-β-lactamases: where do we stand? Curr Drug Targets 2016; 17: 1029–50. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Poirel L, Potron A, Nordmann P. OXA-48-like carbapenemases: the phantom menace. J Antimicrob Chemother 2012; 67: 1597–606. - PubMed
    1. Spratt BG. The mechanism of action of mecillinam. J Antimicrob Chemother 1977; 3: 13–9. - PubMed
    1. Kerrn MB, Frimodt-Møller N, Espersen F. Urinary concentrations and urine ex-vivo effect of mecillinam and sulphamethizole. Clin Microbiol Infect 2004; 10: 54–61. - PubMed