BACKGROUND Extended-spectrum AmpC (ESAC) β-lactamase enzymes, which are either chromosomally encoded or plasmid encoded, have minor structural changes that broaden their substrate hydrolysis profile. The derepressed AmpC enzyme found once in Enterobacter cloacae CHE was shown to contain a six residue deletion in the H-10 helix in close proximity to the active site. Avibactam is a non-β-lactam i...

OBJECTIVES To determine the distribution of acquired AmpC beta-lactamases in 173 isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. submitted to the UK's national reference laboratory for antibiotic resistance. METHODS MICs were determined and interpreted according to BSAC guidelines. Candidate isolates were those resistant to cefotaxime and/or ceftazidime, irrespective of addition of clavulani...

Sir, Resistance to third-generation cephalosporins such as ceftazidime and cefotaxime in Acinetobacter baumannii is often due to increased expression of an intrinsic ampC gene. Expression increases when the ISAba1 insertion sequence (IS) is present in the appropriate orientation upstream of the ampC gene, providing an outward-facing promoter that appears to be stronger than the intrinsic promot...

Two major hospitals in Kano, North West Nigeria have recorded increasing resistance of clinical pathogens to broad spectrum β lactams, mediated by extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESβL) and non ESBLs. A study was therefore undertaken to determine the occurrence and prevalence of plasmid and chromosomal mediated AmpC βL and carbapenemase in addition to already known ESBL due to increasing resistan...

Constitutive AmpC hyperproduction is the most frequent mechanism of resistance to the weak AmpC inducers antipseudomonal penicillins and cephalosporins. Previously, we demonstrated that inhibition of the β-N-acetylglucosaminidase NagZ prevents and reverts this mechanism of resistance, which is caused by ampD and/or dacB (PBP4) mutations in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this work, we compared NagZ ...

Carbapenem-resistance is a great challenge for antimicrobial therapy in Pseudomonas aeruginosa multidrug-resistant infections, as it reduces therapeutic options. This study investigated carbapenem-resistance mechanisms six strains of non-carbapenemase-producing P. aeruginosa. Minimal inhibitory concentrations imipenem and meropenem were determined by epsilometric test broth microdilution. Mutat...

CFE-1 is a unique plasmid-encoded AmpC β-lactamase with the regulator gene ampR. It imparts high resistance to most cephalosporins with constitutive high-level β-lactamase activity. Here, the β-lactamase activities and expression levels of ampC with or without ampR were investigated. Results suggested that the resistance of CFE-1 to cephalosporins is caused by a substitution in AmpR, in which t...

TEM/SHV+ ESBL+ E. coli. There is no immediate explanation for these results, particularly since several other TEM, SHV and CTX-M ESBL+ isolates were correctly identified as ‘exhibiting another resistance mechanism’. The ESBL activity might have been masked by the AmpC inducer (incorporated into all three discs), and hence these results highlight an important limitation of the D69C kit, i.e. it ...

DHA-1, a plasmid-mediated cephalosporinase from a single clinical Salmonella enteritidis isolate, conferred resistance to oxyimino-cephalosporins (cefotaxime and ceftazidime) and cephamycins (cefoxitin and moxalactam), and this resistance was transferable to Escherichia coli HB101. An antagonism was observed between cefoxitin and aztreonam by the diffusion method. Transformation of the transcon...

A clinical strain of Proteus mirabilis (CF09) isolated from urine specimens of a patient displayed resistance to amoxicillin (MIC >4,096 microg/ml), ticarcillin (4,096 microg/ml), cefoxitin (64 microg/ml), cefotaxime (256 microg/ml), and ceftazidime (128 microg/ml) and required an elevated MIC of aztreonam (4 microg/ml). Clavulanic acid did not act synergistically with cephalosporins. Two beta-...