In VitroPharmacodynamics of Vancomycin and Cefazolin Alone and in Combination against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

ABSTRACTPrevious studies employing time-kill methods have observed synergistic effects against methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) when a β-lactam is combined with vancomycin. However, these time-kill studies have neglected the importance of human-simulated exposures. We evaluated the effect of human simulated exposures of vancomycin at 1 g every 8 h (q8h) in combination with cefazolin at 1 g q8h against various MRSA isolates. Four clinical isolates (two MRSA isolates [vancomycin MICs, 0.5 and 2.0 μg/ml], a heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediateS. aureus[hVISA] isolate [MIC, 2.0 μg/ml], and a vancomycin-intermediateS. aureus[VISA] isolate [MIC, 8.0 μg/ml]) were evaluated in anin vitropharmacodynamic model with a starting inoculum of 106or 108CFU/ml. Bacterial density was measured over 48 to 72 h. Time-kill curves were constructed, and the area under the bacterial killing and regrowth curve (AUBC) was calculated. During 106CFU/ml studies, combination therapy achieved greater log10CFU/ml changes than vancomycin alone at 12 h (−4.31 ± 0.58 versus −2.80 ± 0.59,P< 0.001), but not at 48 h. Combination therapy significantly reduced the AUBC from 0 to 48 h (122 ± 14) compared with vancomycin alone (148 ± 22,P= 0.017). Similar results were observed during 108CFU/ml studies, where combination therapy achieved greater log10CFU/ml changes at 12 h than vancomycin alone (−4.00 ± 0.20 versus −1.10 ± 0.04,P< 0.001) and significantly reduced the AUBC (275 ± 30 versus 429 ± 37,P< 0.001) after 72 h of incubation. In this study, the combination of vancomycin and cefazolin at human-simulated exposures improved the rate of kill against these MRSA isolates and resulted in greater overall antibacterial effect, but no differences in bacterial density were observed by the end of the experiments.