In vitro activities of two glycylcyclines

The in vitro activities of two glycylcyclines, CL 329,998 and CL 331,002 (two new semisynthetic tetracyclines), were evaluated in comparison with those of tetracycline and other available oral antimicrobial agents. A total of 523 recent clinical isolates were studied, including strains resistant to tetracycline. Members of the family Enterobacteriaceae were generally > or = 16-fold more susceptible to the glycylcyclines than to tetracycline (although less difference was seen with Proteus spp.). Pseudomonas aeruginosa was modestly susceptible to both new compounds (MIC for 90% of strains tested [MIC90], 16 micrograms/ml). Tetracycline- and methicillin-susceptible and -resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus were all susceptible to the glycylcyclines (MIC90 < or = 1 microgram/ml). Streptococci (including Streptococcus pneumoniae) and Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium displayed a bimodal distribution of susceptibility to tetracycline yet were uniformly susceptible to the glycylcyclines (MIC90 < or = 0.25 microgram/ml). The glycylcyclines were highly potent against Neisseria, Moraxella, Haemophilus, and Bacteroides spp. (MIC90 < or = 0.5 microgram/ml). Strains of Chlamydia spp. (three C. trachomatis strains and one C. pneumoniae strain) were inhibited by < or = 0.25 microgram of CL 329,998 or CL 331,002 per ml. Two strains of Mycoplasma pneumoniae were inhibited by < or = 0.12 microgram of CL 331,002 per ml and by 1 microgram of CL 329,998 per ml. Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium were resistant to the two glycylcyclines (MIC > or = 8 micrograms/ml). These results indicate that the two glycylcyclines have potent in vitro activities against a wide range of clinically important pathogenic bacteria.