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From a clinical perspective, our greatest concerns are multidrug-resistant microbes (MDRs) and cross resistance. MDRs are colloquially known as “ superbugs ” and carry one or more resistance mechanism(s), making them resistant to multiple antimicrobials. In cross-resistance , a single resistance mechanism confers resistance to multiple antimicrobial drugs. For example, having an efflux pump that can export multiple antimicrobial drugs is a common way for microbes to be resistant to multiple drugs by using a single resistance mechanism. In recent years, several clinically important superbugs have emerged, and the CDC reports that superbugs are responsible for more than 2 million infections in the US annually, resulting in at least 23,000 fatalities. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Antibiotic/Antimicrobial Resistance.” http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/index.html. Accessed June 2, 2016. Several of the superbugs discussed in the following sections have been dubbed the ESKAPE pathogens . This acronym refers to the names of the pathogens ( Enterococcus faecium , Staphylococcus aureus , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Acinetobacter baumannii , Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter spp. ) but it is also fitting in that these pathogens are able to “escape” many conventional forms of antimicrobial therapy. As such, infections by ESKAPE pathogens can be difficult to treat and they cause a large number of nosocomial infections.
Methicillin, a semisynthetic penicillin, was designed to resist inactivation by β-lactamases. Unfortunately, soon after the introduction of methicillin to clinical practice, methicillin-resistant strains of S. aureus appeared and started to spread. The mechanism of resistance, acquisition of a new low-affinity PBP, provided S. aureus with resistance to all available β-lactams. Strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) are widespread opportunistic pathogens and a particular concern for skin and other wound infections, but may also cause pneumonia and septicemia . Although originally a problem in health-care settings (hospital-acquired MRSA [HA-MRSA]), MRSA infections are now also acquired through contact with contaminated members of the general public, called community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). Approximately one-third of the population carries S. aureus as a member of their normal nasal microbiota without illness, and about 6% of these strains are methicillin resistant. A.S. Kalokhe et al. “Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Drug Susceptibility and Molecular Diagnostic Testing: A Review of the Literature. American Journal of the Medical Sciences 345 no. 2 (2013):143–148. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA): General Information About MRSA in the Community.” http://www.cdc.gov/mrsa/community/index.html. Accessed June 2, 2016
With the introduction of penicillin in the early 1940s, and its subsequent mass production, society began to think of antibiotics as miracle cures for a wide range of infectious diseases. Unfortunately, as early as 1945, penicillin resistance was first documented and started to spread. Greater than 90% of current S. aureus clinical isolates are resistant to penicillin. F.D. Lowy. “Antimicrobial Resistance: The Example of Staphylococcus aureus .” Journal of Clinical Investigation 111 no. 9 (2003):1265–1273.
Although developing new antimicrobial drugs is one solution to this problem, scientists have explored new approaches, including the development of compounds that inactivate resistance mechanisms. The development of clavulanic acid represents an early example of this strategy. Clavulanic acid is a molecule produced by the bacterium Streptococcus clavuligerus . It contains a β-lactam ring , making it structurally similar to penicillin and other β-lactams , but shows no clinical effectiveness when administered on its own. Instead, clavulanic acid binds irreversibly within the active site of β-lactamases and prevents them from inactivating a coadministered penicillin.
Clavulanic acid was first developed in the 1970s and was mass marketed in combination with amoxicillin beginning in the 1980s under the brand name Augmentin. As is typically the case, resistance to the amoxicillin-clavulanic acid combination soon appeared. Resistance most commonly results from bacteria increasing production of their β-lactamase and overwhelming the inhibitory effects of clavulanic acid, mutating their β-lactamase so it is no longer inhibited by clavulanic acid, or from acquiring a new β-lactamase that is not inhibited by clavulanic acid. Despite increasing resistance concerns, clavulanic acid and related β-lactamase inhibitors (sulbactam and tazobactam) represent an important new strategy: the development of compounds that directly inhibit antimicrobial resistance-conferring enzymes.
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