Interaction between 3,5-diacetyl-1,4-dihydropyridines and ampicillin, and erythromycin on different E. coli strains

Eleven analogues of nifedipine (NP) showed synergistic interactions with ampicillin (Ap) and erythromycin (Er) on Escherichia coli K12LE140/F'lac. The antibacterial effect of Ap was enhanced by most analogues but compound (G9) and (+/-)-verapamil (VP) were antagonistic. Two of the 11 compounds (G7, G8) were synergistic with Er and four were additive. With a sensitive clinical isolate of E. coli Gy-1/Ap(sens)Er(res), compound G1 antagonized the antibacterial effect of Ap and a synergistic effect was found in the combination of Er with G4, G5, G6 or G7. None of the drugs had any effect on a multidrug resistant (MDR) clinical isolate of E. coli Gy-2/Ap(res)Er(res).