Cefpodoxime: comparative antibacterial activity, influence of growth conditions, and bactericidal activity

The antimicrobial activity of cefpodoxime, the active metabolite of the new cephalosporin ester cefpodoxime proxetil, in comparison to cefixime, cefotiam, cefuroxime, and cefotaxime was determined against a broad spectrum of freshly isolated gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains. Cefpodoxime was demonstrated to be inhibitory at concentrations of less than or equal to 1 mg/l against 90% of strains of Moraxella catarrhalis, Haemophilus influenzae, Escherichia coli (beta-lactamase- negative strains), Klebsiella spp., Serratia spp., Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris, Providencia spp., and Salmonella spp. This antimicrobial activity of cefpodoxime was generally superior to that of cefuroxime and similar to that of cefixime. Cefpodoxime was active at less than or equal to 1 mg/l against 50% of the members of beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterobacter aerogenes, Citrobacter spp., and Morganella morganii. Cefpodoxime proved to be highly inhibitory against group A, B, and G streptococci and Streptococcus pneumoniae (MIC90 less than 0.015 mg/l). The MICs of cefpodoxime and those of the other cephalosporins were less than 2 mg/l for greater than or equal to 90% of the strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, with the exception of cefixime which had no activity with MICs below 8 mg/l against these bacteria. Pseudomonas spp., Acinetobacter spp., and Enterococcus spp. were resistant to cefpodoxime. The antibacterial activity of cefpodoxime was only to a minor degree influenced by different growth conditions with the exception of high inoculum sizes against some beta-lactamase producing strains of gram-negative bacilli.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)