Tuomanen E
Rev Infect Dis. 1986 Jul-Aug;8 Suppl 3:S279-91. doi: 10.1093/clinids/8.supplement_3.s279.
beta-Lactam antibiotics rapidly kill bacteria during logarithmic growth but fail to kill nongrowing cells. This trait is the most universal example of phenotypic tolerance (the ability of bacteria to evade the bactericidal activity of antibiotics). Both nongrowing and slowly growing bacteria are found very frequently during infection in vivo, and phenotypic tolerance to the bactericidal activity of antibiotics as a consequence of reduced growth rate can be detected in vivo. With the use of an in vitro model system of nongrowing bacteria, a select group of beta-lactam antibiotics has been found that demonstrates a striking and unusual ability to kill nongrowing bacteria despite phenotypic tolerance to conventional beta-lactam antibiotics. These same compounds also effectively kill phenotypically tolerant cells in cerebrospinal fluid and serum. The extension of bactericidal activity to nongrowing and slowly growing bacteria may be a major advance in efforts to improve the chemotherapy for infectious diseases.
β-内酰胺类抗生素在对数生长期能迅速杀死细菌，但无法杀死非生长状态的细胞。这一特性是表型耐受性（细菌逃避抗生素杀菌活性的能力）最普遍的例子。在体内感染过程中，非生长状态和缓慢生长的细菌非常常见，并且由于生长速率降低而导致的对抗生素杀菌活性的表型耐受性在体内也能检测到。通过使用非生长细菌的体外模型系统，已发现一组特定的β-内酰胺类抗生素，它们表现出惊人且不同寻常的能力，尽管对传统β-内酰胺类抗生素存在表型耐受性，但仍能杀死非生长细菌。这些相同的化合物也能有效杀死脑脊液和血清中具有表型耐受性的细胞。将杀菌活性扩展到非生长和缓慢生长的细菌可能是改善传染病化疗努力中的一项重大进展。
