Significant Differences Characterise the Correlation Coefficients between Biocide and Antibiotic Susceptibility Profiles in Staphylococcus aureus

Title:Significant Differences Characterise the Correlation Coefficients between Biocide and Antibiotic Susceptibility Profiles in Staphylococcus aureus

Volume: 21 Issue: 16

Author(s): Marco R. Oggioni, Joana Rosado Coelho, Leonardo Furi, Daniel R Knight, Carlo Viti, Graziella Orefici, Jose-Luis Martinez, Ana Teresa Freitas, Teresa M. Coque, Ian Morrissey and behalf of the BIOHYPO consortium

Affiliation:

Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, antibiotic resistance, biocides, benzalkonium chloride, chlorhexidine, triclosan, sodium hypochlorite.

Abstract: There is a growing concern by regulatory authorities for the selection of antibiotic resistance caused by the use of biocidal products. We aimed to complete the detailed information on large surveys by investigating the relationship between biocide and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of a large number of Staphylococcus aureus isolates using four biocides and antibiotics commonly used in clinical practice. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for most clinically-relevant antibiotics was determined according to the standardized methodology for over 1600 clinical S. aureus isolates and compared to susceptibility profiles of benzalkonium chloride, chlorhexidine, triclosan, and sodium hypochlorite. The relationship between antibiotic and biocide susceptibility profiles was evaluated using non-linear correlations.

The main outcome evidenced was an absence of any strong or moderate statistically significant correlation when susceptibilities of either triclosan or sodium hypochlorite were compared for any of the tested antibiotics. On the other hand, correlation coefficients for MICs of benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine were calculated above 0.4 for susceptibility to quinolones, beta-lactams, and also macrolides.

Our data do not support any selective pressure for association between biocides and antibiotics resistance and furthermore do not allow for a defined risk evaluation for some of the compounds. Importantly, our data clearly indicate that there does not involve any risk of selection for antibiotic resistance for the compounds triclosan and sodium hypochlorite. These data hence infer that biocide selection for antibiotic resistance has had so far a less significant impact than feared.

Cite this article as:

Oggioni Marco R., Rosado Coelho Joana, Furi Leonardo, R Knight Daniel, Viti Carlo, Orefici Graziella, Martinez Jose-Luis, Teresa Freitas Ana, M. Coque Teresa, Morrissey Ian and behalf of the BIOHYPO consortium , Significant Differences Characterise the Correlation Coefficients between Biocide and Antibiotic Susceptibility Profiles in Staphylococcus aureus, Current Pharmaceutical Design 2015; 21 (16) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1381612821666150310103238