ABSTRACT
Introduction: Enterococci have become the third leading cause of nosocomial bacteraemia, an infection which is significantly associated with the risk of developing infective endocarditis. Linezolid provides high rates of clinical cure and microbiologic success in complicated infections due to Enterococcus spp. However, several instances of emergence of resistance during linezolid treatment have been reported. The aim of this study was evaluate the activity of tigecycline against linezolidintermediate (LIE) and linezolid-resistant enterococcus faecalis(LRE) by the timekill assay. Methods: Five isolates of LRE and two isolates of LIE were used in this study. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by broth dilution following the guidelines from the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Time-kill assay was employed to access the in vitro response profile of tigecycline. Results: All seven isolates presented MIC of 0.125 ìg/mL. Tigecycline activity was individually evaluated according to CLSI criteria. This antibiotic showed bactericidal activity against three of the five isolates of LRE and bacteriostatic activity against the other isolates. Conclusions: Tigecycline presented both bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity against tested isolates, which is an important data that must be considered for new studies.