In vitro susceptibility testing of imipenem-relebactam and tedizolid against 102 Mycobacterium abscessus isolates.

OBJECTIVES

Mycobacterium abscessus is an emerging infection in people living with lung diseases, including cystic fibrosis (CF) and bronchiectasis, and it has limited treatment options and low cure rates. The off-label use of novel antibiotics developed for other bacterial pathogens offers potential new therapeutic options. We aimed to describe the in vitro activity of imipenem, imipenem-relebactam and tedizolid against comparator antibiotics in M. abscessus isolates from Australian patients with and without CF.

METHODS

We performed susceptibility testing for imipenem-relebactam, tedizolid and comparator antibiotics by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) criteria against 102 clinical M. abscessus isolates, including 46 from people with CF.

RESULTS

In this study, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) of imipenem-relebactam was one-fold dilution less than of imipenem alone. The MIC and MIC of imipenem-relebactam were 8 and 16 mg/L, respectively, whereas for imipenem they were 16 and 32 mg/L. Tedizolid had an MIC and MIC of 2 and 4 mg/L, respectively. Forty non-CF isolates had linezolid susceptibility performed, with MIC and MIC values of 16 and 32 mg/L, respectively, measured.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows lower MICs for imipenem-relebactam and tedizolid compared to other more commonly used antibiotics and supports their consideration in clinical trials for M. abscessus treatment.