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Masau WaKabongo, PhD^*; Zachary N. Stucki, BS^*; Deborah Potym Torbert, BS^*; Justine Olweny, BS

Aeromonas are gram-negative rods transmitted through drinking of contaminated water whose presence poses a risk to public health. Aeromonas have shown multiple resistance to antibiotics. ß-Lactamase inhibitors display activity against other multiresistant organisms. Furthermore, studies have shown that addition of lactoferrin to the antibiotics can lower the high minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of resistant microorganisms. Lactoferrin is an iron binding protein found in milk, and has been found to exert anti-microbial activity.

Purpose: (1) To investigate the susceptibility of Aeromonas isolates to ampicillin/sulbactam (UNASYN), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (Augmentin), ticarcillin clavulanate (Timentin), and tazobactam-tazobactam (ZOSYN); (2) To study the effect of lactoferrin on the potency of the above antibiotics.

Methods: 76 environmental and clinical isolates of motile aeromonads were used in this study (Aeromonas caviae = 30; Aeromonas hydrophila = 28; Aeromonas sobia = 18). Bovine lactoferrin (Sigma) was added to distilled water and filter sterilized. A final concentration of 2000 µg/mL was used. The MICs were determined by the standardized microdilution method in Mueller-Hinton broth as recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) (Standards). Customized sensititre panels from TREK Diagnostic Systems, Inc (Westlake, Ohio) were used; 50 µL of lactoferrin solution was added to appropriate wells after inoculation of the organisms. Escherichia coli (ATCC 35218) was used as control.

Results: Piperacillin/tazobactam: All three species were susceptible with and without lactoferrin. Ampicillin/sulbactam: 70% of A caviae, 61% of A hydrophila, and 89% of A sobia were resistant without lactoferrin; 23% of A caviae, 21% of A hydrophila, and 44% of A sobia were resistant with lactoferrin. Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid: 10% of A caviae, 7% of A hydrophila, and 33% of A sobia were resistant without lactoferrin; 0% of A caviae, 4% of A hydrophila, and 0% of A sobia were resistant with lactoferrin. Ticarcillin/clavulanic acid: 10% of A caviae, 0% of A hydrophila, and 33% of A sobia were resistant without lactoferrin; 7% of A caviae, 0% of A hydrophila, and 6% of A sobia were resistant with lactoferrin.

Conclusion: This study shows that lactoferrin has synergistic antimicrobial activities with ß-lactamase inhibitors against motile aeromonads. All three species were highly susceptible to piperacillin/tazobactam with and without lactoferrin.

^* Des Moines University–Osteopathic Medical Center, Des Moines, IA 50312; Drake University Department of Biology, Des Moines, IA 50311

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by WaKabongo, M. Articles by Olweny, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by WaKabongo, M. Articles by Olweny, J.