Activity of ampicillin-sulbactam, sulbactam-durlobactam, and comparators against Acinetobacter baumannii-calcoaceticus complex strains isolated from respiratory and bloodstream sources: results from ACNBio study

Abstract

Infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii-calcoaceticus complex (ABC) are associated with high mortality rates and limited treatment options. This study aims to evaluate the in vitro activity of clinically utilized antimicrobials against a contemporary collection of ABC isolates with a predominant carbapenem-resistant phenotype. Geographically dispersed US medical centers (n = 22) provided non-duplicate respiratory and bloodstream ABC isolates for surveillance testing. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted by broth microdilution and interpreted according to Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) breakpoints. ABC isolates (n = 523) from respiratory tract (74.4%) and blood (25.6%) sources were recovered from patients (2023-2024). Forty percent were obtained from intensive care unit patients. Carbapenem non-susceptibility was observed in 76.9% of isolates and was more common among respiratory tract cultures. The addition of durlobactam to sulbactam decreased the MIC₉₀ by three-doubling dilutions from 32 to 4 µg/mL, increasing the susceptibility rate to 96.9% from 33.8%. Genome sequencing of sulbactam-durlobactam non-susceptible isolates (16/523; n = 3.1%) revealed MBL and non-enzymatic resistance mechanisms. Cefiderocol inhibited 93.5% and 76.1% of isolates at CLSI and FDA susceptible breakpoints, respectively. Minocycline susceptibility was <50%, while tigecycline and eravacycline MIC_50/90 were 1/2 and 0.5/1 µg/mL, respectively. Sulbactam-durlobactam displayed high activity against sulbactam (95.4%), carbapenem (96.3%), and cefiderocol (95.2%) non-susceptible isolates. Susceptibility rates of clinically utilized antimicrobials against a US collection of ABC isolates ranged from 23% to 97%, with meropenem displaying the lowest rate and sulbactam-durlobactam demonstrating the highest overall rate. Sulbactam-durlobactam activity was preserved against sulbactam, carbapenem, and cefiderocol non-susceptible isolates among respiratory tract and bloodstream isolates.

Keywords: Acinetobacter; CRAB; sulbactam; sulbactam-durlobactam.