[Antimicrobial activities of gentamicin against fresh clinical isolates]

Antimicrobial activities of gentamicin (GM), compared with activities of other aminoglycosides (AGs) and beta-lactam antibiotics, were studied against clinical isolates obtained during a period of July-December 1989. 1. GM-resistant strains were noted in 24% of Staphylococcus aureus, 12% of Enterobacter spp., 24% of Serratia marcescens, 7% of Morganella morganii and 26% of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but no GM-resistant strains were observed among isolates of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis and Proteus vulgaris. 2. A majority of GM-resistant strains of S. aureus were methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and a large number of GM-resistant strains of Enterobacter spp. was also resistant to new quinolones. GM showed, however, strong antimicrobial activities against new quinolones-resistant strains of S. marcescens, M. morganii and P. aeruginosa. 3. Among all the isolates tested of S. marcescens, 24% were GM-resistant, 72% were tobramycin (TOB)-resistant, 86% were dibekacin (DKB)-resistant and 64% were amikacin (AMK)-resistant, hence the incidence of GM-resistant strains was the lowest. This tendency was also observed with P. vulgaris. However, among P. aeruginosa, 26% were GM-resistant, 14% TOB-resistant, 18% DKB-resistant and 22% AMK-resistant, thus the incidence rate for GM-resistance was somewhat higher. These results suggest that different AGs-modification enzymes were produced by various clinical isolates under the present condition. 4. Comparing the ratio of GM-resistant strains in the present study with those in 1980 and 1983, the ratio increased among S. aureus, while decreases were observed among Enterobacter spp., S. marcescens, P. vulgaris and P. aeruginosa, indicating that a unilateral tendency of increases in GM-resistant strains did not exist among clinical isolates over the years.