Newer fluoroquinolones, such as levofloxacin, have shown an enhanced in vitro and in vivo activity against penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae infections. The frequency of S. pneumoniae with reduced susceptibility to quinolones, although currently low, raises the question of the therapeutic efficacy of levofloxacin on infection due to such strains. We used an animal model of penicilli...

We have analyzed by gene amplification and sequencing mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining regions of the gyrA, gyrB, and parC genes of fluoroquinolone-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae mutants obtained during therapy or in vitro. Mutations leading to substitutions in ParC were detected in the two mutants obtained in vivo, BM4203-R (substitution of a histidine for an aspartate at ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Gonococcal fluoroquinolone resistance is now a significant problem in Japan. We generated gonococcal mutants resistant to norfloxacin in vitro from norfloxacin sensitive isolates and analysed the contribution of three known mechanisms of quinolone resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three clinical isolates of N gonorrhoeae susceptible to norflo...

To detect quinolone resistance-associated mutations within the Asp-86, Ser-87, Ser-88, and Glu-91 codons of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae parC gene, we developed a rapid and simple assay based on amplification of the regions of the parC gene containing the mutations sites by PCR and digestion of the PCR products with restriction enzymes. By using the method of primer-specified restriction site modi...

In this study, we assessed the activity of ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, sparfloxacin, and trovafloxacin against clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae that were resistant to the less-recently developed fluoroquinolones by using defined amino acid substitutions in DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV. The molecular basis for resistance was assessed by using mutants selected with trovafloxacin,...

OBJECTIVES Fluoroquinolone-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae are increasing worldwide rapidly. In vitro activities of sitafloxacin were evaluated against clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae resistant to levofloxacin (MIC of levofloxacin > or = 4 mg/L), which were characterized genetically. METHODS The quinolone resistance determining regions (QRDRs) of gyrA, gyrB, parC and parE of these strai...