ABSTRACTDelafloxacin is a broad-spectrum anionic fluoroquinolone under development for the treatment of bacterial pneumonia. The goal of the study was to determine the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) targets in the murine lung infection model forStaphylococcus aureus,Streptococcus pneumoniae, andKlebsiella pneumoniae. Four isolates of each species were utilized forin vivostudies: forS. aureus, one methicillin-susceptible and three methicillin-resistant isolates;S. pneumoniae, two penicillin-susceptible and two penicillin-resistant isolates;K. pneumoniae, one wild-type and three extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing isolates. MICs were determined using CLSI methods. A neutropenic murine lung infection model was utilized for all treatment studies, and drug dosing was by the subcutaneous route. Single-dose plasma pharmacokinetics was determined in the mouse model after administration of 2.5, 10, 40, and 160 mg/kg. Forin vivostudies, 4-fold-increasing doses of delafloxacin (range, 0.03 to 160 mg/kg) were administered every 6 h (q6h) to infected mice. Treatment outcome was measured by determining organism burden in the lung (CFU counts) at the end of each experiment (24 h). The Hill equation for maximum effect (Emax) was used to model the dose-response data. The magnitude of the PK/PD index, the area under the concentration-time curve over 24 h in the steady state divided by the MIC (AUC/MIC), associated with net stasis and 1-log kill endpoints was determined in the lung model for all isolates. MICs ranged from 0.004 to 1 mg/liter. Single-dose PK parameter ranges include the following: for maximum concentration of drug in serum (Cmax), 2 to 70.7 mg/liter; AUC from 0 h to infinity (AUC0–∞), 2.8 to 152 mg · h/liter; half-life (t1/2), 0.7 to 1 h. At the start of therapy mice had 6.3 ± 0.09 log10CFU/lung. In control mice the organism burden increased 2.1 ± 0.44 log10CFU/lung over the study period. There was a relatively steep dose-response relationship observed with escalating doses of delafloxacin. Maximal organism reductions ranged from 2 log10to more than 4 log10. The median free-drug AUC/MIC magnitude associated with net stasis for each species group was 1.45, 0.56, and 40.3 forS. aureus,S. pneumoniae, andK. pneumoniae, respectively. AUC/MIC targets for the 1-log kill endpoint were 2- to 5-fold higher. Delafloxacin demonstratedin vitroandin vivopotency against a diverse group of pathogens, including those with phenotypic drug resistance to other classes. These results have potential relevance for clinical dose selection and evaluation of susceptibility breakpoints for delafloxacin for the treatment of lower respiratory tract infections involving these pathogens.
Despite Antagonism in vitro, Pseudomonas aeruginosa Enhances Staphylococcus aureus Colonization in a Murine Lung Infection Model
