Penicillin

About: Penicillin is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 17916 publications have been published within this topic receiving 368480 citations. The topic is also known as: penicillin antibiotic & PCN.

Identification of bacteria in acute endodontic infections and their antimicrobial susceptibility

Abstract: Objective. The purpose of the study was to identify the bacterial composition of the microbiota from acute endodontic abscesses/cellulitis and their antimicrobial susceptibilities. Study Design. Purulence from 17 patients with acute endodontic abscesses/cellulitis was obtained by needle aspiration and processed under anaerobic conditions. Bacteria were isolated and identified by biochemical or molecular methods. The antimicrobial susceptibility of isolated bacteria was determined by using the Etest. Results. All 17 aspirates contained a mix of microorganisms. A total of 127 strains of bacteria were isolated. Of 127 strains, 80 strains were anaerobes and 47 strains were aerobes. The mean number of strains per sample was 7.5 (range, 3 to 13). The average number of viable bacteria was 6.37 × 10 7 (range, 10 4 to 10 8 ) colony-forming units/mL. Strict anaerobes and microaerophiles were the dominant bacteria in 82% (14 of 17) of the cases. The genera of bacteria most frequently encountered were Prevotella and Streptococcus . Prevotella and Peptostreptococcus were frequently found to dominate the mixture. The combination of Prevotella and Streptococcus was found in 53% (9 of 17). The previously reported uncultured Prevotella clone PUS9.180 was frequently identified. The percentage of bacteria susceptible/intermediate for each antibiotic in this study was penicillin V, 81% (95 of 118); metronidazole, 88% (51 of 58); amoxicillin, 85% (100 of 118); amoxicillin + clavulanic acid, 100% (118 of 118); and clindamycin, 89% (105 of 118). Conclusions. The present results confirm the existence of mixed infection with the predominance of anaerobic bacteria in acute endodontic abscesses/cellulitis. The frequency of uncultured Prevotella clone PUS9.180 suggests the possible key role of this Prevotella species in acute endodontic infections. Penicillin V still possesses antimicrobial activity against the majority of bacteria isolated from acute endodontic infections. However, if penicillin V therapy has failed to be effective, the combination of penicillin V with metronidazole or amoxicillin with clavulanic acid is recommended. Switching to clindamycin is another good alternative. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2002;94:746-55)

Occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from diagnostic samples from dogs

Abstract: Results: The majority of the antimicrobials prescribed for dogs were broad-spectrum compounds, and extended-spectrum penicillins, cephalosporins and sulphonamides 1 trimethoprim together accounted for 81% of the total amount used for companion animals. Resistance to cephalosporins and amoxicillin with clavulanic acid was very low for all bacterial species examined, except for P. aeruginosa, and resistance to sulphonamides and trimethoprim was low for most species. Among the S. intermedius isolates, 60.2% were resistant to penicillin, 30.2% to fusidic acid and 27.9% to macrolides. Among E. coli isolates, the highest level of resistance was recorded for ampicillin, sulphonamides, trimethoprim, tetracyclines and streptomycin. Certain differences in resistance patterns between isolates from different sites or organs were noticed for E. coli, S. intermedius and Proteus isolates. Conclusions: This investigation provided data on occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in important pathogenic bacteria from dogs, which may be useful for the small animal practitioner. Resistance was low to the compounds that were most often used, but unfortunately, these compounds were broadspectrum. Data on resistance and usage may form a background for the establishment of a set of recommendations for prudent use of antimicrobials for companion animals.

Study of comparative antipneumococcal activities of penicillin G, RP 59500, erythromycin, sparfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and vancomycin by using time-kill methodology.

Abstract: Time-kill studies were used to examine the in vitro activities of penicillin G, RP 59500, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, sparfloxacin, and vancomycin against 10 pneumococci expressing various degrees of susceptibility to penicillin and erythromycin. RP 59500 MICs for all strains were 0.5 to 2.0 micrograms/ml, while erythromycin MICs were 0.008 to 0.06 microgram/ml for erythromycin-susceptible strains and 32.0 to 64.0 micrograms/ml for erythromycin-resistant strains. Strains were more susceptible to sparfloxacin (0.125 to 0.5 microgram/ml) than to ciprofloxacin (0.5 to 4.0 micrograms/ml), and all were inhibited by vancomycin at MICs of 0.25 to 0.5 microgram/ml. Time-kill studies showed that antibiotic concentrations greater than the MIC were bactericidal for each strain, with the following exceptions. Erythromycin was bactericidal for one penicillin-resistant strain at 6 h, with regrowth after 12 and 24 h. Three penicillin-susceptible strains were bacteriostatically inhibited by erythromycin at concentrations greater than or equal to the MIC by 6 h. One penicillin-susceptible strain (penicillin MIC, 0.06 microgram/ml) was bacteriostatically inhibited by penicillin G at 24 h at the MIC or at one-half the MIC; a bactericidal effect was found only with penicillin G at concentrations of > or = 0.25 microgram/ml. At 10 min after inoculation a 1- to 3-log10-unit reduction (90 to 99.9%) in the original inoculum was seen for 6 of 10 strains with RP 59500 at concentrations greater than or equal to the MIC. This effect was not found with any of the other compounds tested. A bactericidal effect was found at > or = 6 h with RP 59500 at concentrations of one-half to one-quarter the MIC in 7 of 10 strains, and a bacteriostatic effect was found in 3 or 10 strains, with regrowth at 24 h. One penicillin-resistant strain was examined by the time-kill methodology at 0, 1, 2, and 3 h. RP 59500 at a concentration equal to the MIC was bactericidal within 1 h, and at a concentration of one-half the MIC it was bactericidal within 3 h. This phenomenon was not seen with the other antimicrobial agents tested. Regrowth of strains at ciprofloxacin concentrations equal to the MIC or at a one-half to one-quarter the MIC was found. For sparfloxacin, three of the four penicillin-susceptible strains and two of four penicillin-resistant strains were bacteriostatically inhibited by 6 h. Bactericidal effects were found at 6, 12, and 24 h with both intermediate-resistant, one penicillin-susceptible, and two penicillin-resistant strains. Complete killing was observed with vancomycin at concentrations greater than MIC. Of the new compounds tested, RP 59500 and sparfloxacin show promise for the treatment of infections caused by penicillin-susceptible and -resistant pneumococci. The clinical significance of rapid killing by RP 59500 remains to be determined.

Detection of penicillin and extended-spectrum cephalosporin resistance among Streptococcus pneumoniae clinical isolates by use of the E test.

Abstract: Increasing penicillin resistance and the initial recognition of resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins among Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates have placed greater emphasis on accurate methods for susceptibility testing of clinical isolates. This study has evaluated the use of the E test (AB Biodisk NA, Piscataway, N.J.) for the detection of penicillin and cefotaxime resistance among 147 pneumococcal clinical isolates in three geographically separate laboratories. These included 42 penicillin-resistant (MIC, > or = 2 micrograms/ml) and 14 cefotaxime-resistant (defined here as an MIC of > or = 2 micrograms/ml) isolates. E test strips were applied to the surface of Mueller-Hinton sheep blood agar plates and incubated at 35 degrees C in 5% CO2 for 20 to 24 h. E test MICs were compared with MICs determined with lysed horse blood-supplemented Mueller-Hinton broth in a microdilution format as recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. Penicillin MICs agreed within one log2 dilution for 136 of 147 (92.5%) isolates, and cefotaxime MICs agreed within one log2 dilution for 142 of 147 (96.6%) isolates. No very major or major interpretive errors occurred with either penicillin or cefotaxime E test MIC results. There were 9.5 and 5.4% minor interpretive category errors with penicillin and cefotaxime E test MICs, respectively. These data indicate that the E test represents a convenient and reliable method for the detection of penicillin or cephalosporin resistance in pneumococci.