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JAC Advance Access originally published online on June 21, 2005
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2005 56(2):407-409; doi:10.1093/jac/dki206
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Actinomyces species with 12 antimicrobial agents

A. J. Smith1,*, V. Hall2, B. Thakker3 and C. G. Gemmell4

1 Infection Research Group, Glasgow Dental Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland, UK; 2 Anaerobe Reference Laboratory, NPHS Microbiology Cardiff, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, Wales, UK; 3 Bacteriology Department, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Scotland, UK; 4 Division of Immunology, Infection and Inflammation, Medical School, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Received 6 April 2005; returned 25 April 2005; revised 24 May 2005; accepted 24 May 2005

* Corresponding author. Tel: +44-141-211-9747; Fax: +44-141-211-9600; E-mail: a.smith{at}dental.gla.ac.uk

Objective: This study was conducted to assess the susceptibility of human clinical isolates of Actinomyces species to 12 antimicrobial agents.

Methods: Human clinical isolates of Actinomyces spp. were collected from stored collections held at the Microbiology Department, Edinburgh University, Anaerobe Reference Laboratory, Cardiff, Glasgow Dental Hospital and Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Each isolate was identified by restriction analysis of amplified 16S ribosomal DNA. MICs of 12 antibiotics comprising benzyl penicillin, amoxicillin, ceftriaxone, linezolid, tetracycline, deoxycycline, clindamycin, erythromycin, clarithromycin, ciprofloxacin, meropenem and piperacillin/tazobactam for 87 strains of Actinomyces species were obtained by Etest methodology.

Results: The Actinomyces species identified for this study comprised: Actinomyces israelii, Actinomyces gerencseriae, Actinomyces turicensis, Actinomyces funkei, Actinomyces graevenitzii and Actinomyces europaeus. All isolates were susceptible to penicillin and amoxicillin. All but one strain of A. turicensis was susceptible to linezolid. A number of A. europaeus and A. graevenitzii isolates were resistant to ceftriaxone and piperacillin/tazobactam. A number of isolates of A. turicensis and A. europaeus also demonstrated resistance to erythromycin. All Actinomyces species tested appeared resistant to ciprofloxacin.

Conclusions: Actinomyces species appear to be susceptible to a wide range of ß-lactam agents and these, when combined with ß-lactamase inhibitors, should be regarded as agents of first choice. Ciprofloxacin performed poorly. Tetracyclines also demonstrated poor performance. This is the first study of antimicrobial susceptibilities for a number of accurately identified clinical isolates of Actinomyces spp. There are a number of species differences in susceptibility profiles to the antimicrobials tested, suggesting that accurate identification and speciation may have an impact on clinical outcome.

Keywords: Actinomyces israelii , Actinomyces gerencseriae , Actinomyces turicensis , Actinomyces funkei , Actinomyces graevenitzii , Actinomyces europaeus , antimicrobial susceptibility


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