Multicenter evaluation of the clinical outcomes of daptomycin with and without concomitant ß-lactams in patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and mild to moderate renal impairment.

Patients with underlying renal disease may be vulnerable to vancomycin-mediated nephrotoxicity and Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia treatment failure. In light of recent data demonstrating the successful use of ß-lactam plus daptomycin in very difficult cases of S. aureus bacteremia, we examined safety and clinical outcomes for patients who received daptomycin with or without concomitant ß-lactams. We identified 106 patients who received daptomycin for S. aureus bacteremia, had mild or moderate renal insufficiency according to FDA criteria, and enrolled in the Cubicin Outcomes Registry and Experience (CORE), a multicenter registry, from 2005 to 2009. Daptomycin treatment success was 81%. Overall treatment efficacy was slightly enhanced with the addition of a ß-lactam (87% versus 78%; P = 0.336), but this trend was most pronounced for bacteremia associated with endocarditis or bone/joint infection or bacteremia from an unknown source (90% versus 57%; P = 0.061). Factors associated with reduced daptomycin efficacy (by logistic regression) were an unknown source of bacteremia (odds ratio [OR] = 7.59; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.55 to 37.2), moderate renal impairment (OR = 9.11; 95% CI = 1.46 to 56.8), and prior vancomycin failure (OR = 11.2; 95% CI = 1.95 to 64.5). Two patients experienced an increase in creatine phosphokinase (CPK) that resolved after stopping daptomycin. No patients developed worsening renal insufficiency related to daptomycin. In conclusion, daptomycin appeared to be effective and well tolerated in patients with S. aureus bacteremia and mild to moderate renal insufficiency. Daptomycin treatment efficacy might be enhanced with ß-lactam combination therapy in primary endovascular and bone/joint infections. Additional studies will be necessary to confirm these findings.

Investigational new drugs for the treatment of resistant pneumococcal infections.

Antibiotic resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae is not only increasing with penicillin but also with other antimicrobial classes including the macrolides, tetracyclines and sulfonamides. This trend with antibiotic resistance has highlighted the need for the further development of new anti-infectives for the treatment of pneumococcal infections, particularly against multi-drug resistant pneumococci. Several new drugs with anti-pneumococcal activity are at various stages of development and will be discussed in this review. Two new cephalosporins with activity against S. pneumoniae include ceftobiprole and RWJ-54428. Faropenem is in a new class of beta-lactam antibiotics called the penems. Structurally, the penems are a hybrid between the penicillins and cephalosporins. Sitafloxacin and garenoxacin are two new quinolones that are likely to have a role in treating pneumococcal infections. Oritavancin and dalbavancin are glycopeptides with activity against methicillin-resistant S. aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. as well as multi-drug resistant pneumococci. Tigecycline is the first drug in a new class of anti-infectives called the glycycyclines that has activity against penicillin-resistant pneumococci.