Reduced clinical efficacy of pazufloxacin against gonorrhea due to high prevalence of quinolone-resistant isolates with the GyrA mutation. The Pazufloxacin STD Group

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1998 Mar;42(3):579-82. doi: 10.1128/AAC.42.3.579.

Abstract

Forty-two men with gonococcal urethritis were treated with an oral dosage of 200 mg of pazufloxacin, a new fluoroquinolone, three times daily for 3 days. Only 28 of the 42 men (66.7%) had negative culture results for Neisseria gonorrhoeae during follow-up. Of the 42 isolates, 41 could be recultured for antibiotic susceptibility testing and DNA sequencing. In 26 of the 41 isolates (63.4%), GyrA mutations with or without ParC mutations were identified. Among the 26 isolates, 23 contained a single GyrA mutation, 1 contained two GyrA mutations, and 2 contained three mutations including double GyrA and single ParC mutations. A single Ser-91-to-Phe mutation, which was detected in 14 of the 26 isolates, was the most common GyrA mutation, followed by an Ala-75 to Ser mutation and an Asp-95 to Asn or Gly mutation in GyrA. All three isolates with two or three mutations contained the Ser-91-to-Phe GyrA mutation. Eleven of the 14 isolates with the single Ser-91-to-Phe mutation within GyrA and all 3 isolates with two or three mutations persisted after pazufloxacin treatment. On the other hand, all 15 wild-type and 9 mutant isolates with a substitution at codon Ala-75 or Asp-95 were eradicated. The mean MIC of pazufloxacin for mutants with the single Ser-91-to-Phe mutation in GyrA was 66-fold higher than that for the wild type. The results obtained in this study suggest that a high prevalence of fluoroquinolone-resistant gonococcal isolates with the Ser-91-to-Phe mutation in GyrA reduced the efficacy of pazufloxacin as treatment for gonococcal urethritis.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anti-Infective Agents / pharmacology
  • Anti-Infective Agents / therapeutic use*
  • DNA Gyrase
  • DNA Topoisomerase IV
  • DNA Topoisomerases, Type II / genetics*
  • Drug Resistance, Microbial / genetics
  • Fluoroquinolones*
  • Gonorrhea / drug therapy*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Middle Aged
  • Mutation
  • Neisseria gonorrhoeae / drug effects*
  • Neisseria gonorrhoeae / genetics
  • Oxazines / pharmacology
  • Oxazines / therapeutic use*
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents
  • Fluoroquinolones
  • Oxazines
  • pazufloxacin
  • DNA Topoisomerase IV
  • DNA Gyrase
  • DNA Topoisomerases, Type II