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Updated: Sep 26, 2026

Testing the Role of Multicopy Plasmids in the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance
09:00

Testing the Role of Multicopy Plasmids in the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance

Published on: May 2, 2018

Gram-positive resistance: challenge for the development of new antibiotics

F Baquero1

  • 1Departamento de Microbiología, Ramón y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain.

The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
|May 1, 1997
PubMed

Insights

Multidrug-resistant Gram-positive infections are rising, posing treatment challenges. A new streptogramin, quinupristin/dalfopristin, shows promise for combating these difficult-to-treat pathogens.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • The incidence of infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-positive organisms is increasing.
  • These infections are difficult to treat due to widespread resistance to existing antibacterial therapies.
  • Key problematic pathogens include resistant strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae, enterococci, and Staphylococcus aureus.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To highlight the urgent need for novel antibacterial agents effective against multidrug-resistant Gram-positive pathogens.
  • To introduce quinupristin/dalfopristin as a potential therapeutic option.

Main Methods:

  • Review of current literature on multidrug-resistant Gram-positive infections.
  • Identification of key resistant pathogens and their resistance profiles.
  • Introduction of a novel semisynthetic injectable streptogramin.

Main Results:

  • Identified numerous multidrug-resistant Gram-positive pathogens, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, enterococci, Staphylococcus aureus, and others.
  • Documented resistance to various antibiotic classes such as beta-lactams, macrolides, aminoglycosides, and glycopeptides.
  • Highlighted quinupristin/dalfopristin as a promising agent against these resistant strains.

Conclusions:

  • There is a critical need for new antibacterial agents to address the growing threat of multidrug-resistant Gram-positive infections.
  • Quinupristin/dalfopristin represents a novel therapeutic prospect for treating infections caused by a range of challenging multidrug-resistant Gram-positive organisms.

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