1225. In Vitro Activity of Aztreonam-Avibactam and Comparator Agents Against Enterobacterales Collected from Geriatric Patients in ICU and non-ICU wards, ATLAS Surveillance Program 2016-2019

Background Elevated resistance rates have been reported in ICUs. Aztreonam (ATM) combined with avibactam (AVI) is being developed for use against drug-resistant Enterobacterales (Ebact), including metallo-β-lactamase (MBL)-positive isolates. We examined the activity of ATM-AVI and comparators against Ebact isolates collected from geriatric patients in ICU and non-ICU wards as part of the ATLAS surveillance program. Methods 23754 non-duplicate Ebact isolates were collected in 53 countries in Asia/Pacific (excluding mainland China and India), Europe, Latin America, and Middle East/Africa from patients ≥65 years with lower respiratory tract (LRTI), urinary tract (UTI), skin and soft tissue (SSTI), intra-abdominal (IAI), and bloodstream (BSI) infections. Susceptibility testing was performed by CLSI broth microdilution and values interpreted using CLSI 2021 breakpoints. PCR and sequencing were used to determine the β-lactamase genes present in isolates with meropenem MIC >1 µg/mL, and Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp. and Proteus mirabilis with ATM or ceftazidime MIC >1 µg/mL. Results Susceptibility of the studied comparator agents was generally slightly lower among Ebact from BSI than other infection types (Table). Susceptibility was also generally lower among Ebact from ICU than non-ICU wards by up to 10 percentage points, and MIC90 values were up to 32-fold higher. ATM-AVI MIC90 values were within one doubling-dilution across all studied strata (0.12-0.25 µg/mL), were comparable to or lower than for meropenem in all strata, and were 2 to ≥9 dilutions lower than all other tested comparators. MBL-positive Ebact were found in 1.5% of LRTI (n=91), 1.2% of UTI (n=70), 1.1% of SSTI (n=52), 1.3% of BSI (n=49), and 0.7% of IAI isolates (n=22). MBL-positive rates were higher among ICU (1.7%, n=101) than non-ICU isolates (1.0%, n=183). ATM-AVI MIC90 values were 0.5 µg/mL against MBL-positive isolates from all ward and infection types except SSTI (MIC90 0.25 µg/mL) and BSI (MIC90 1 µg/mL), 2-4 dilutions lower than tigecycline and at least 5-10 dilutions lower than the other comparators. Results Table Conclusion ATM-AVI could provide a valuable therapeutic option for treatment of infections caused by Ebact in patients ≥65 years old in both ICU and non-ICU wards. Disclosures Sibylle Lob, PhD, IHMA (Employee)Pfizer, Inc. (Independent Contractor) Krystyna Kazmierczak, PhD, IHMA (Employee)Pfizer, Inc. (Independent Contractor) Francis Arhin, PhD, Pfizer, Inc. (Employee) Daniel F. Sahm, PhD, IHMA (Employee)Pfizer, Inc. (Independent Contractor)

Multi-lab comparison of omadacycline MIC Test Strip to broth microdilution MIC against Gram-negative, Gram-positive and fastidious bacteria

The performance of the Liofilchem omadacycline MIC Test Strip (MTS) was evaluated in a multi-site study. Three testing sites collected/tested clinical isolates and one site tested challenge isolates that totaled 175 S. aureus , 70 S. lugdunensis , 121 E. faecalis , 100 E. faecium , 578 Enterobacterales, 142 Haemophilus spp., 181 S. pneumoniae , 45 S. anginosus group, 35 S. pyogenes and 20 S. agalactiae . MIC testing was performed by CLSI broth microdilution (BMD) and MTS. Fastidious isolates testing included BMD and MTS testing with both CLSI and EUCAST Mueller Hinton Fastidious (MH-F). In addition, each site performed reproducibility for non-fastidious and fastidious isolates and QC by MTS and BMD. All BMD and MTS results for the QC strains were within expected ranges, with exception of one MTS HTM result for H. influenzae ATCC 49247. Among reproducibility isolates, omadacycline MTS results were within one dilution of the modal MIC for 95.2% of non-fastidious Gram-positive, 100% of Gram-negative, 99.3% and 98.5% of fastidious isolates tested on CLSI and EUCAST media, respectively. MTS results for all study isolates were within one doubling dilution of the CLSI BMD MIC for 98.9% of S. aureus , 100% of S. lugdunensis , 98.3% of E. faecalis , 100% of E. faecium , and 99.6% of Enterobacterales. Essential agreement rates for CLSI and EUCAST MH-F agar compared to CLSI BMD were 98.2% and 98.2%, for H. influenzae , 91.1% and 73.6%, for S. pneumoniae and 100% and 85-91.7% for other streptococcus species, respectively. Based on CLSI media, all categorical errors were minor errors and categorical agreement rates were >90% with exception of C. freundii , S. lugdunensis, E. faecalis , S. anginosus and S. constellatus.

Robotic Antimicrobial Susceptibility Platform (RASP): a next-generation approach to One Health surveillance of antimicrobial resistance

Background Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is critical to reducing its wide-reaching impact. Its reliance on sample size invites solutions to longstanding constraints regarding scalability. A robotic platform (RASP) was developed for high-throughput AMR surveillance in accordance with internationally recognized standards (CLSI and ISO 20776-1:2019) and validated through a series of experiments. Methods Experiment A compared RASP’s ability to achieve consistent MICs with that of a human technician across eight replicates for four Escherichia coli isolates. Experiment B assessed RASP’s agreement with human-performed MICs across 91 E. coli isolates with a diverse range of AMR profiles. Additionally, to demonstrate its real-world applicability, the RASP workflow was then applied to five faecal samples where a minimum of 47 E. coli per animal (239 total) were evaluated using an AMR indexing framework. Results For each drug–rater–isolate combination in Experiment A, there was a clear consensus of the MIC and deviation from the consensus remained within one doubling dilution (the exception being gentamicin at two dilutions). Experiment B revealed a concordance correlation coefficient of 0.9670 (95% CI: 0.9670–0.9670) between the robot- and human-performed MICs. RASP’s application to the five faecal samples highlighted the intra-animal diversity of gut commensal E. coli, identifying between five and nine unique isolate AMR phenotypes per sample. Conclusions While adhering to internationally accepted guidelines, RASP was superior in throughput, cost and data resolution when compared with an experienced human technician. Integration of robotics platforms in the microbiology laboratory is a necessary advancement for future One Health AMR endeavours.

Robotic Antimicrobial Susceptibility Platform (RASP): A Next Generation Approach to One-Health Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance

BackgroundSurveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is critical to reducing its wide-reaching impact. Its reliance on sample size invites solutions to longstanding constraints regarding scalability. A robotic platform (RASP) was developed for high-throughput AMR surveillance in accordance with internationally recognised standards (CLSI and ISO 20776-1:2019) and validated through a series of experiments.MethodsExperiment A compared RASP’s ability to achieve consistent MICs to that of a human technician across eight replicates for four E. coli isolates. Experiment B assessed RASP’s agreement with human performed MICs across 91 E. coli isolates with a diverse range of AMR profiles. Additionally, to demonstrate its real-world applicability, the RASP workflow was then applied to five faecal samples where a minimum of 47 E. coli per animal (239 total) were evaluated using an AMR indexing framework.ResultsFor each drug-rater-isolate combination in experiment A, there was a clear consensus of the MIC and deviation from the consensus remained within one doubling-dilution (the exception being gentamicin at two dilutions). Experiment B revealed a concordance correlation coefficient of 0.9670 (95%CI: 0.9670 - 0.9670) between the robot and human performed MICs. RASP’s application to the five faecal samples highlighted the intra-animal diversity of gut commensal E. coli, identifying between five and nine unique isolate AMR phenotypes per sample.ConclusionsWhile adhering to internationally accepted guidelines, RASP was superior in throughput, cost and data resolution when compared to an experienced human technician. Integration of robotics platforms in the microbiology laboratory is a necessary advancement for future One-Health AMR endeavours.

Assessing the in vitro impact of ceftazidime on aztreonam/avibactam susceptibility testing for highly resistant MBL-producing Enterobacterales

Background Aztreonam/avibactam is a combination agent that shows promise in treating infections caused by highly antibiotic-resistant MBL-producing Enterobacterales. This combination can be achieved by combining two FDA-approved drugs: ceftazidime/avibactam and aztreonam. It is unknown whether ceftazidime in the combination ceftazidime/aztreonam/avibactam has a synergistic or antagonistic effect on the in vitro activity of aztreonam/avibactam by significantly increasing or decreasing the MIC. Objectives To determine whether increasing ceftazidime concentrations affect the MICs of aztreonam/avibactam alone. Methods A custom 8 × 8 chequerboard broth microdilution (BMD) panel was made using a digital dispenser (Hewlett-Packard, Corvallis, OR, USA). The panel included orthogonal 2-fold dilution series of aztreonam and ceftazidime ranging from 0.5 to 64 mg/L. Avibactam concentration was kept constant at 4 mg/L throughout the chequerboard. Thirty-seven Enterobacterales isolates from the CDC & FDA Antibiotic Resistance Isolate Bank or CDC’s internal collection with intermediate or resistant interpretations to aztreonam and ceftazidime/avibactam were included for testing. All isolates harboured at least one of the following MBL genes: blaIMP, blaNDM or blaVIM. Results Regardless of the concentration of ceftazidime, aztreonam/avibactam with ceftazidime MICs for all 37 isolates were within one 2-fold doubling dilution of the aztreonam/avibactam MIC. Conclusions Ceftazidime, in the combination ceftazidime/avibactam/aztreonam, did not affect the in vitro activity of aztreonam/avibactam in this sample of isolates. These findings can help assure clinical and public health laboratories that testing of aztreonam/avibactam by BMD can act as a reliable surrogate test when the combination of ceftazidime/avibactam and aztreonam is being considered for treatment of highly antibiotic-resistant MBL-producing Enterobacterales.

Reconciling the Potentially Irreconcilable? Genotypic and Phenotypic Amoxicillin-Clavulanate Resistance in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanate, a widely used beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combination antibiotic, is rising globally, and yet susceptibility testing remains challenging. To test whether whole-genome sequencing (WGS) could provide a more reliable assessment of susceptibility than traditional methods, we predicted resistance from WGS for 976 Escherichia coli bloodstream infection isolates from Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, comparing against phenotypes from the BD Phoenix (calibrated against EUCAST guidelines). A total of 339/976 (35%) isolates were amoxicillin-clavulanate resistant. Predictions based solely on beta-lactamase presence/absence performed poorly (sensitivity, 23% [78/339]) but improved when genetic features associated with penicillinase hyperproduction (e.g., promoter mutations and copy number estimates) were considered (sensitivity, 82% [277/339]; P < 0.0001). Most discrepancies occurred in isolates with MICs within ±1 doubling dilution of the breakpoint. We investigated two potential causes: the phenotypic reference and the binary resistant/susceptible classification. We performed reference standard, replicated phenotyping in a random stratified subsample of 261/976 (27%) isolates using agar dilution, following both EUCAST and CLSI guidelines, which use different clavulanate concentrations. As well as disagreeing with each other, neither agar dilution phenotype aligned perfectly with genetic features. A random-effects model investigating associations between genetic features and MICs showed that some genetic features had small, variable and additive effects, resulting in variable resistance classification. Using model fixed-effects to predict MICs for the non-agar dilution isolates, predicted MICs were in essential agreement (±1 doubling dilution) with observed (BD Phoenix) MICs for 691/715 (97%) isolates. This suggests amoxicillin-clavulanate resistance in E. coli is quantitative, rather than qualitative, explaining the poorly reproducible binary (resistant/susceptible) phenotypes and suboptimal concordance between different phenotypic methods and with WGS-based predictions.

In Vitro Activity of Eravacycline against Gram-Positive Bacteria Isolated in Clinical Laboratories Worldwide from 2013 to 2017

ABSTRACT Eravacycline is a novel, fully synthetic fluorocycline antibiotic being developed for the treatment of serious infections, including those caused by resistant Gram-positive pathogens. Here, we evaluated the in vitro activities of eravacycline and comparator antimicrobial agents against a recent global collection of frequently encountered clinical isolates of Gram-positive bacteria. The CLSI broth microdilution method was used to determine in vitro MIC data for isolates of Enterococcus spp. (n = 2,807), Staphylococcus spp. (n = 4,331), and Streptococcus spp. (n = 3,373) isolated primarily from respiratory, intra-abdominal, urinary, and skin specimens by clinical laboratories in 37 countries on three continents from 2013 to 2017. Susceptibilities were interpreted using both CLSI and EUCAST breakpoints. There were no substantive differences (a >1-doubling-dilution increase or decrease) in eravacycline MIC90 values for different species/organism groups over time or by region. Eravacycline showed MIC50 and MIC90 results of 0.06 and 0.12 μg/ml, respectively, when tested against Staphylococcus aureus, regardless of methicillin susceptibility. The MIC90 values of eravacycline for Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus haemolyticus were equal (0.5 μg/ml). The eravacycline MIC90s for Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium were 0.06 μg/ml and were within 1 doubling dilution regardless of the vancomycin susceptibility profile. Eravacycline exhibited MIC90 results of ≤0.06 μg/ml when tested against Streptococcus pneumoniae and beta-hemolytic and viridans group streptococcal isolates. In this surveillance study, eravacycline demonstrated potent in vitro activity against frequently isolated clinical isolates of Gram-positive bacteria (Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, and Streptococcus spp.), including isolates collected over a 5-year period (2013 to 2017), underscoring its potential benefit in the treatment of infections caused by common Gram-positive pathogens.

Evaluation of Ciprofloxacin and Levofloxacin Disk Diffusion and Etest Using the 2019EnterobacteriaceaeCLSI Breakpoints

ABSTRACTIn 2019, the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) published revisions to theEnterobacteriaceaeciprofloxacin and levofloxacin breakpoints. We evaluated the performance of disk diffusion and Etest compared to that of reference broth microdilution by use of the revised breakpoints. Fifty-eightEnterobacteriaceaeisolates with ciprofloxacin MICs of 0.5 μg/ml or 1.0 μg/ml on initial testing were specifically selected for evaluation. These MICs are susceptible by the 2018 breakpoints and not susceptible by the 2019 breakpoints. For ciprofloxacin disk diffusion, the categorical agreement (CA) was 46.6%, with 0 very major errors (VME), 4 major errors (ME) (21.1%), and 27 minor errors (mE) (46.6%) using the 2019 CLSI disk breakpoints. For levofloxacin, the CA was 72.4%, with 0 VME, 0 ME, and 16 mE (27.6%) using the 2019 CLSI disk breakpoints. Using an error rate-bound evaluation method, levofloxacin but not ciprofloxacin disk diffusion yielded an acceptable minor error rate of <40% for isolates with an MIC plus or minus 1 doubling dilution of the intermediate breakpoint. For Etest compared to the reference broth microdilution, the essential agreement was 100% for both ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin and the CA was 81.0% and 65.5%, respectively. No VME or ME were observed by Etest, and 11 minor errors for ciprofloxacin (19.0%) and 20 (34.5%) for levofloxacin were observed. By the error rate-bound method, the minor error rate for ciprofloxacin was acceptable, but minor error rates for levofloxacin remained outside the acceptance range (i.e., 42.6% for isolates with an MIC within 1 dilution of the breakpoint). In general, the disk diffusion and Etest methods performed well with this challenging collection of isolates, although laboratories must be aware of minor errors, particularly for isolates with results near the breakpoint.

The Poisoned Well: Enhancing the Predictive Value of Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing in the Era of Multidrug Resistance

ABSTRACTAntimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is a fundamental mission of the clinical microbiology laboratory. Reference AST methods are based on bacterial growth in antibiotic doubling dilution series, which means that any error in the reference method inherently represents at least a 2-fold difference. We describe the origins of current AST reference methodology, highlight the sources of AST variability, and propose ideas for improving AST predictive power.

Proof-of-concept evaluation of trough airway hyper-responsiveness following regular racemic or levosalbutamol in genotype-stratified steroid-treated persistent asthmatic patients

Asthmatic patients receiving ICSs (inhaled corticosteroids) may take frequent add-on therapy with salbutamol despite on-demand prescription. Frequent salbutamol use can be detrimental in asthma. The isomeric formulation of salbutamol and the B2ADR (β2 adrenoceptor) 16 genotype may also influence this phenomenon. We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, triple crossover, proof of concept trial comparing 2 weeks of regular therapy with inhaled racemic salbutamol [200 μg q.i.d. (four times daily)], levosalbutamol (100 μg q.i.d.) or placebo on trough methacholine PC20 [provocative concentration causing 20% fall in FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 s)] 6 h post-dose (the primary outcome) in 30 persistent asthmatic patients (15 who were Arg16 homozygous and 15 who were Gly16 homozygous) all receiving ICSs. There was no worsening of AHR (airway hyper-responsiveness) at trough to methacholine after 2 weeks regular exposure to either racemic (P=0.53) or levosalbutamol (P=0.84) compared with placebo, nor between genotypes–as dd (doubling dilution) difference in methacholine PC20 from placebo [salbutamol/Arg16=0.36 dd [95% CI (confidence interval), −0.43, 1.15]; salbutamol/Gly16=0.01 dd (95% CI, −0.47, 0.49); levosalbutamol/Arg16=−0.01 dd (95% CI, −0.89, 0.87); and levosalbutamol/Gly16=0.28 dd (95% CI, −0.22, 0.77)]. Both active treatments improved morning PEF (peak expiratory flow) in Gly16 (P=0.04 overall) but not Arg16 (P=0.50 overall) patients, whereas evening PEF improved in both Gly16 (P<0.001 overall) and Arg16 (P=0.006 overall) patients. In conclusion, the regular exposure to either racemic or levosalbutamol for 2 weeks added to ICSs did not cause worsening of AHR at trough compared with placebo; with no difference seen between B2ADR 16 genotypes.