In vitro Activity of Gemifloxacin against some Clinical Bacterial Isolates of Urinary Tract Infections

ABSTRACT

Background: Gemifloxacin is a third generation fluoroquinolone with broad spectrum antimicrobial andenhanced activity against both aerobic and anaerobic Gram positive bacteria. It is recommended for thetreatment of respiratory tract infections.Objectives: This study evaluated and compared the antibacterial activity of gemifloxacin with ciprofloxacin;ofloxacin and norfloxacin using minimum inhibition concentration assays against Staphylococcus aureus;Escherichia coli; Alcaligenes faecalis; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Serratia marcescens; Enterobacteraerogenes; Proteus vulgaris and Klebseilla pneumoniae obtained from urine samples of patients.Methods: The minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) evaluations were employed for the comparativestudies and zones of inhibition assay were further used to determine the antibacterial activity ofgemifloxacin. For the MIC evaluations; final nutrient agar concentrations of 5; 7.5; 10; 15; 20; 25 and30?g/ml of gemifloxacin; ciprofloxacin; ofloxacin; and norfloxacin were used. For the zones of inhibitionassay; 0.2ml of the MICs (7.5; 10; 15; 25 and 30 ?g/ml) of gemifloxacin against particular bacterium wasused. Results: The MICs of gemifloxacin were 7.5?g/ml for Proteus vulgaris; 10?g/ml for Staphylococcus aureusand Enterobacter aerogenes; 15?g/ml for E. coli; 20?g/ml for Pseudomonas aeruginosa; 25?g/ml forKlebsiella pneumonia and 30?g/ml for Alcaligenes faecalis and Serratia marcescens. The clinical isolateswere most sensitive to ofloxacin with MICs of 7.5?g/ml for Proteus vulgaris and 10?g/ml for the otherisolates. The isolates were least susceptible to norfloxacin with MICs of 10?g/ml for Proteus vulgaris and30?g/ml for the other isolates.The results show that the clinical isolates were most sensitive to ofloxacin followed by gemifloxacin;ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin respectively.Conclusion: Although gemifloxacin is not currently strongly recommended for urinary tract infections; thisstudy has shown that it possesses antibacterial activity against the clinical isolates obtained from urinesamples of patients with urinary tract infections and could have a place in the treatment of urinary tractinfections caused by the organisms