The deacetoxycephalosporin C synthase from Streptomyces clavuligerus was directly modified for enhancement of penicillin G expansion into phenylacetyl-7-aminodeacetoxycephalosporanic acid, an important intermediate in the industrial manufacture of cephalosporin antibiotics. Nine new mutants, mutants M73T, T91A, A106T, C155Y, Y184H, M188V, M188I, H244Q, and L277Q with 1.4- to 5.7-fold increases ...

Penicillinase production and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of penicillin G, amoxycillin, doxycycline, and spectinomycin were studied for 155 gonococcal strains isolated in Fukuoka, Japan, between April and December 1981. Of 155 isolates, 25 (16.1%) strains were identified as penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG) by a rapid iodometric test. The antibiotic sensitivity of...

Since mid-1997 British Columbia has experienced an outbreak of syphilis, initially in heterosexuals and more recently among men who have sex with men (MSM). Starting in 1999, primarily in patients presenting to the sexually transmitted diseases clinic at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), moist lesions of primary and secondary syphilis were swabbed for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) te...

Nicolau syndrome (NS) is a rare complication of intramuscular, intraarticular or subcutaneous injection of particular drugs leading to ischemic necrosis of the surrounding skin, soft tissue and muscular tissue. Benzathine penicilin one of the most widely used antibiotic for upper respiratory tract infections and has been rarely reported to cause NS. Here we describe a 4 year old boy with diagno...

In order to determine the therapeutic value of penicillins in the management of anaerobic infections caused by Bacteroides fragilis, the antibacterial activity of penicillin G, ampicillin, and carbenicillin against 10 strains of B. fragilis subsp. fragilis, isolated from clinical material, was studied. This was undertaken by using a triple-layer technique, enzymatic inactivation of the antibiot...

Penicillin G acylase (PGA) is a heterodimeric enzyme synthesized as a single-polypeptide precursor that undergoes an autocatalytic processing to remove an internal spacer peptide to produce the active enzyme. We constructed a single-chain PGA not dependent on autoproteolytic processing. The mature sequence of the beta-domain was expressed as the N terminus of a new polypeptide, connected by a r...

During investigations into the production of 13-lactamase inhibitory activity by microorganisms we studied the culture Streptomyces gedanensis ATCC 4880. This culture has been reported by HATA et al.' to produce (3-lactamase inhibitory activity, the active component designated KA107 was shown to be a high molecular weight substance, probably a protein. Our studies have shown that S. gedanensis ...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the risk of serious adverse reactions to benzathine penicillin in pregnant women for preventing congenital syphilis. METHODS We searched for clinical trials or cohorts that assessed the incidence of serious adverse reactions to benzathine penicillin in pregnant women and the general population (indirect evidence). MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus and other databases were searched...

ABT-773 was tested against 317 fastidious isolates; it inhibited 99% of organisms at a concentration of 4.0 microg/ml. With ampicillin-sulbactam and levofloxacin, only 2 and 6% of these strains, respectively, were resistant at the breakpoint. With clindamycin, penicillin G, and metronidazole, 22, 26, and 58% of the strains, respectively, were resistant.

Significant advances have been made in the structure-based engineering of enzymes useful for beta-lactam antibiotic production. Structure-based engineering of penicillin G acylase and cephalosporin acylase has resulted in improved enzymes for use in enzymatic production processes. The structures of many other enzymes that could be used in the production of beta-lactam antibiotics, such as enzym...