The comparative in vitro activity of twelve 4-quinolone antimicrobials against enteric pathogens

The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of twelve 4-quinolone antimicrobials were determined for Salmonella typhi (25), Salmonella spp. (50), Shigella spp. (50), Campylobacter jejuni (100), Vibrio cholerae (10), Vibrio parahaemolyticus (10), Yersinia enterocolitica (25), Aeromonas hydrophila (25) and Plesiomonas shigelloides (10). MICs were determined using an agar dilution technique in Mueller-Hinton agar (Oxoid, England) supplemented with 10% lysed horse blood. Antibiotic containing plates were inoculated with approximately 10(4) colony forming units of each organism, contained in 10 microliters of Mueller-Hinton broth (Oxoid, England), using a multipoint inoculator. Following inoculation plates were incubated aerobically for 18 hours at 37 degrees C, except for plates inoculated with Campylobacter jejuni which were incubated microaerophilically for 48 hours at 37 degrees C. The MICs of each antimicrobial for each isolate examined, together with the minimum concentrations of each antimicrobial required to inhibit 50% (MIC50) and 90% (MIC90) of the isolates examined, were also determined. The more recently synthesized 4-quinolones showed very good activity against all of the enteric pathogens examined with ciprofloxacin being the most active (MIC90: Salmonella typhi 0.015 microgram/ml, Salmonella spp. 0.015 microgram/ml, Shigella spp. 0.015 microgram/ml, Campylobacter jejuni 0.12 microgram/ml, Vibrio cholerae 0.008 microgram/ml, Vibrio parahaemolyticus 0.06 microgram/ml, Yersinia enterocolitica 0.015 microgram/ml, Aeromonas hydrophila 0.015 microgram/ml and Plesiomonas shigelloides 0.015 microgram/ml. Where considered clinically appropriate these compounds may have a useful role in the treatment and prevention of diarrhoeal disease caused by these enteric pathogens.