Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (2001) 48, 573-577
© 2001 The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
Brief report |
A combination of roxithromycin and imipenem as an antimicrobial strategy against biofilms formed by Staphylococcus aureus
Department of Dermatology, Okayama University Medical School, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan
We examined the effects of a combination of roxithromycin and imipenem on a biofilm model of Staphylococcus aureus. Treatment with roxithromycin alone and imipenem alone did not decrease the number of viable bacterial cells compared with the control. However, a combination treatment of roxithromycin and imipenem significantly decreased the number of viable bacterial cells on day 8 after inoculation in the in vivo model (P < 0.01). On days 5 and 8 after inoculation, numerous polymorphonuclear leucocytes and macrophages invaded the bacterial clusters in the roxithromycin- and roxithromycin/imipenem-treated groups, but did not invade the control or imipenem-treated groups. The present study indicated that a combination of roxithromycin and imipenem is a potentially effective treatment for S. aureus biofilm-associated skin infections as it can induce the invasion of polymorphonuclear leucocytes into the biofilm.
* Corresponding author. Tel: +81-86-235-7282; Fax: +81-86-235-7283; E-mail: kota616{at}cc.okayama-u.ac.jp