Helsens Nicolas, Findlay Jacqueline, Bouvier Maxime, Nordmann Patrice
Clinical Microbiology Unit, Pasteur Institute of Lille, Lille, France; European Institute for Emerging Antibiotic Resistance, Pasteur Institute of Lille, University of Lille, France, and University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
Medical and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine, University of Fribourg.
J Glob Antimicrob Resist. 2025 Apr 26. doi: 10.1016/j.jgar.2025.04.018.
Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii pose a major public health threat. These bacteria often display broad-spectrum antibiotic resistance, rendering them resistant to nearly all classes of antibiotics. Hydrogen sulfide (HS), a compound naturally produced by many bacterial species, has been proposed to exert a protective effect against certain antibiotics. However, A. baumannii does not produced HS.
To investigate the effect of exogenous HS on antibiotic resistance, several clinical isolates of carbapenemase-producing A. baumannii were cultured under various conditions, including the presence or absence of HS and/or sub-inhibitory concentrations of gentamicin, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, and meropenem. Bacterial growth was assessed at multiple time points to evaluate growth dynamics.
Exogenous HS alone had a limited impact on bacterial growth. However, its addition reduced the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of gentamicin and sensitized the bacteria to sub-inhibitory concentrations of this antibiotic.
This study highlights the potential of HS as an antibiotic potentiator, suggesting that the use of this combination may be a promising strategy for treating pulmonary infections caused by A. baumannii or for preventing colonization on medical devices such as catheters.
耐碳青霉烯类鲍曼不动杆菌对公共卫生构成重大威胁。这些细菌常常表现出广谱抗生素耐药性，几乎对所有种类的抗生素都具有抗性。硫化氢（HS）是许多细菌物种天然产生的一种化合物，有人提出它对某些抗生素具有保护作用。然而，鲍曼不动杆菌并不产生HS。
为了研究外源性HS对抗生素耐药性的影响，将几种产碳青霉烯酶的鲍曼不动杆菌临床分离株在各种条件下进行培养，这些条件包括有无HS和/或亚抑菌浓度的庆大霉素、阿奇霉素、环丙沙星、四环素和美罗培南。在多个时间点评估细菌生长情况，以评估生长动态。
单独使用外源性HS对细菌生长的影响有限。然而，添加HS可降低庆大霉素的最低抑菌浓度（MIC），并使细菌对该抗生素的亚抑菌浓度敏感。
本研究突出了HS作为抗生素增效剂的潜力，表明使用这种联合用药可能是治疗鲍曼不动杆菌引起的肺部感染或预防导管等医疗器械上的定植的一种有前景的策略。
