1 Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments, Laboratoire dEtudes et de Recherches Avicoles et Porcines, Unité Mycoplasmologie-Bactériologie, BP 53, F-22440 Ploufragan; 2 Laboratoire de Développement et dAnalyses, Zoopôle, 7 rue du Sabot, BP 54, F-22440 Ploufragan; 3 Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments, Laboratoire dEtudes et de Recherches sur les Médicaments Vétérinaires et les Désinfectants, La Haute Marche, Javené, F-35133 Fougères, France
Received 23 August 2001; returned 26 November 2001; revised 18 April 2002; accepted 29 April 2002
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Abstract |
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Introduction |
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Autogenous vaccines are used to protect swine against S. suis infections but since protection is incomplete, different types of vaccine are under investigation.2 Among antimicrobial agents for treatment and prevention, the most active are the ß-lactams, aminoglycosides, phenicols and fluoroquinolones.4 Previous studies have investigated the antimicrobial susceptibility of clinical isolates but few have reported the susceptibility of S. suis strains isolated from healthy pigs.5 Most reports of resistance concentrate on streptococci, notably Streptococcus pneumoniae.69 Shneerson et al.10 described a case of human meningitis with a penicillin-resistant S. suis. ß-Lactam-resistant S. suis strains have also been isolated from swine in Spain.11 According to Gottschalk et al.,12 resistance has not been associated with the production of ß-lactamase. More recently, resistance of S. suis to different antibiotics has been described.1,2
We have undertaken a study to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of 110 S. suis strains isolated in France from 1996 to 2000, from diseased as well as from healthy pigs, testing 13 antimicrobial agents by agar diffusion and microdilution methods. Twenty-five strains isolated from humans were also analysed.
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Materials and methods |
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Bacterial strains
Eighty-three S. suis strains collected from diseased pigs presenting with septicaemia, meningitis or arthritis, and 27 strains isolated from tonsils or nasal cavities of healthy pigs were tested in the study. Twenty-five S. suis strains isolated from humans from Canada (four strains), England (one strain), France (seven strains), the Netherlands (11 strains) and Mexico (two strains) were also included. Among these human strains, 24 were associated with pyrexia, meningitis, endocarditis or spondylitis, and one was isolated from a healthy human.15 Identification and serotyping of S. suis were performed as described by Gottschalk et al.16
The following reference strains were used for each batch of antimicrobial testing by both methods: Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853.
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing
Disc diffusion method (DDM). The culture medium was MuellerHinton (MH) agar supplemented with 5% defibrinated sheep blood [MHSB (AES, Combourg, France) as recommended by the CA-SFM for streptococci14 but also by the NCCLS17] or with 5% horse serum [MHHS (Life-Technologies, Cergy-Pontoise, France)].
The antimicrobial agents used in this study were: ß-lactams: penicillin G (6 µg), amoxicillin (25 µg), ceftiofur (30 µg); aminoglycosides: streptomycin (500 µg), kanamycin (1000 µg), gentamicin (500 µg); polypeptides: bacitracin (10 IU); tetracyclines: doxycycline (30 IU); macrolides/lincosamides: erythromycin (15 IU), spiramycin (100 µg), lincomycin (15 µg) (Bio-Rad, Marnes la Coquette, France), tylosin (30 µg) (Lilly-France, Saint-Cloud, France); phenicols: florfenicol (30 µg) (Schering-Plough, Segré, France). The method used was in accordance with CA-SFM recommendations.13,14
Briefly, three or four colonies from an overnight culture on Columbia agar supplemented with 5% sheep blood (AES) were suspended in MH broth (Becton Dickinson, Pont de Claix, France). The suspension was adjusted to a 0.5 McFarland standard and diluted to obtain an inoculum of 106 cfu/mL S. suis. For each strain two plates were inoculated by flooding MH agar (4 mm depth) supplemented with either 5% defibrinated sheep blood or 5% horse serum.
The antibiotic discs were placed with a disc dispenser (Bio-Rad) and plates were incubated at 37°C in 5% CO2 for 18 h. The zone diameters of S. suis strains and the reference strains were measured on the same day using a sliding caliper.
Microdilution method (MDM). Susceptibility to antimicrobial agents was also determined by the MDM with MH broth supplemented with 5% horse serum using the following antimicrobial agents: penicillin G (0.1232 mg/L), amoxicillin (0.2532 mg/L), ceftiofur (164 mg/L), streptomycin (322048 mg/L), kanamycin (162048 mg/L), gentamicin (322048 mg/L), bacitracin (116 mg/L), doxycycline (0.2516 mg/L), erythromycin (0.2516 mg/L), spiramycin (0.2516 mg/L), tylosin (0.2516 mg/L), lincomycin (0.5 32 mg/L) and florfenicol (0.2532 mg/L). All antimicrobial agents were purchased from Sigma (Saint Quentin Fallavier, France) except for ceftiofur (Pharmacia & Upjohn, Saint Quentin en Yvelines, France) and florfenicol (Schering-Plough).
The antimicrobial solutions were prepared as described in the 20002001 report of the CA-SFM,14 and each dilution was distributed in 96-well microtitration plates (Merck Eurolab, Strasbourg, France). Bacterial suspensions were prepared as described for the DDM and adjusted to 5 x 105 cfu/mL. The microtitration plates were incubated at 37°C in 5% CO2 for 18 h. The MIC was defined as the lowest concentration of antibiotic that inhibited development of visible growth.
Interpretation of susceptibility testing results
A strain was considered susceptible if the zone diameter was greater than or equal to the diameter breakpoint for the DDM or if the MIC was smaller than or equal to the MIC breakpoint for the MDM. The antibiotic breakpoints were taken from the CA-SFM13,14 and the NCCLS17 reports except for florfenicol, for which the breakpoints used were those given by the manufacturer. The distributions of resistant (R), intermediate (I) or susceptible (S) strains were compared according to the three methods used and the agreement of these classifications was analysed for each strain. If a discord was detected, it was defined as major if a strain was classified S to an antimicrobial agent with one method and R with the other method. The discord was defined as minor if a strain was classified I to an antimicrobial agent with one method and S or R with the other method.
Statistical analysis
For each antimicrobial agent, the effects of capsular type and origin of S. suis on the antimicrobial susceptibility were analysed with Fishers exact test. This test was also used for the evaluation of the medium effect (MHSB or MHHS) on the antimicrobial susceptibility determined by the DDM. In all cases, differences were considered significant when P was <0.05.
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Results |
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A large proportion of S. suis strains was classified as R to doxycycline (79% with the DDM and MDM).
Resistance to macrolides and lincosamides was also widespread: for erythromycin, spiramycin, tylosin and lincomycin, only about 30% of the strains were classified as S (Tables 1 and 2). Most of the strains were classified as S to streptomycin and kanamycin. All strains were classified as S to penicillin G (except by the DDM with MHSB), amoxicillin, ceftiofur, gentamicin and florfenicol. Most strains were also S to bacitracin (99% with the DDM and 93% with the MDM).
No correlation (P 0.14) could be found between the proportions of S S. suis isolated from diseased pigs (n = 83), healthy pigs (n = 27) or humans (n = 25). However, S. suis strains isolated from humans were significantly more frequently S (P < 0.02) to erythromycin, spiramycin, tylosin, lincomycin and doxycycline than strains isolated from diseased pigs (meningitis, arthritis or septicaemia) or healthy pigs. The S. suis capsular type 2 strains (n = 85) were also significantly more frequently S than other serotypes (n = 50) to erythromycin, spiramycin, tylosin and lincomycin (4546% versus 8%, P < 0.0001) and doxycycline (31% versus 4%, P < 0.0001).
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Discussion |
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The use of horse serum instead of sheep blood in the DDM seemed justified because the opacity of the medium due to supplementation with blood hinders precise measuring of zone diameters without opening the plates, a manipulation that might be dangerous with a zoonotic agent such as S. suis. Moreover, a large quantity of a single batch of horse serum can be stored at 20°C for periods up to 1 year, whereas sheep blood must be ordered regularly (several times a month), a feature that results in the use of many different batches of this component, which may influence the reproducibility of the test over time.
It is important to underline that this study showed that the presence in MH of horse serum, compared with sheep blood, resulted in increased inhibitory zone diameters of S. suis when testing penicillin G. The difference reported might be explained by a modification of penicillin G diffusion in the medium according to the supplement used. This explanation is in agreement with the slightly different results obtained with S. aureus ATCC 25923 and E. faecalis ATCC 29212 strains. Andrews et al.18 have also reported a difference in zone diameters for Gram-positive pathogens to dalfopristin/quinupristin: the presence of blood in the base medium (IsoSensitest agar) also resulted in reduced zone diameters for Staphylococcus cohni, Staphylococcus capitis, Staphylococcus warneri, Enterococcus gallinarum and for the reference strains used in their study (S. aureus NCTC 6571, S. aureus ATCC 25923 and E. faecalis ATCC 29212).
Although the distribution of the strains for penicillin G susceptibility appeared monomodal whatever the medium used, when using MHSB the CA-SFM-recommended breakpoint (29 mm) cut the population into two categories (60% susceptible and 40% intermediate), whereas all but one strain appeared susceptible when the test was performed with MHHS. As reported by Acar & Goldstein,19 from an epidemiological point of view, the breakpoint should fit within the limits of clusters of microbial organisms with comparable susceptibility.
Thus, in our opinion, it would be judicious to advise laboratories to use horse serum in preferance to sheep blood as a supplement in MH for S. suis susceptibility testing by the DDM.
All S. suis strains were found to be S to penicillin G (except by the DDM: 40% of strains were I with MHSB and only one strain was I with MHHS), amoxicillin, ceftiofur, florfenicol and gentamicin, and nearly all strains were S to bacitracin. These results are in accordance with many other studies that have described S. suis as mainly susceptible to these antimicrobial agents.2024 The efficacy of ß-lactams and gentamicin indicates that these antibiotics can still be chosen empirically when S. suis pig infection is detected in France. Moreover, in human meningitis the usual antimicrobial treatment (ß-lactams) should be effective. However, S. suis resistance to ß-lactams has been reported,11,12,25 and streptococcal resistance to ß-lactams has been described largely for S. pneumoniae.68,26,27
Resistance to macrolides/lincosamides and tetracyclines described in this study has also been described in the literature to varying degrees in different countries. In France, Morvan28 reported that 19% of 400 S. suis strains were susceptible to spiramycin, 38% to lincomycin and 18% to tetracycline. In Spain, Reams et al.25 reported that 33%, 32% and 19% of S. suis strains were susceptible to erythromycin, clindamycin and tetracycline, respectively. In Denmark, 20% of S. suis strains, isolated from 1995 to 1997, were resistant to erythromycin, spiramycin, tylosin and lincomycin and 44% to tetracycline. These high rates of resistance to macrolides/lincosamides and to tetracyclines might be explained by intensive use of tylosin (growth promoter) and tetracycline (therapeutic) in Danish pig production between 1992 and 1997.29
Our study showed a high level of resistance to streptomycin and to kanamycin and confirmed the results published by other authors who also described this kind of resistance in varying degrees.21,24,29,30
The differences observed between countries might be explained by different usage of antimicrobial agents but could also be due to methodological differences between studies. Standardization of susceptibility testing methods at an international level would facilitate comparisons.
In our study, serotype 2 was found to be resistant to macrolides/lincosamides less frequently than other serotypes, in agreement with results reported by Aarestrup et al.23 However, these results are inconsistent with those reported previously by Cantin et al.31 No explanation can be found for this difference.
The difference between serotype susceptibility shown in our study could be explained by the fact that serotype 2 is considered to be the serotype most commonly associated with disease,1 and most commonly isolated from healthy animals. Austin et al.32 demonstrated that levels of colonization by antibiotic-resistant bacteria are related to antibiotic exposure and prevalence of bacteria. For a proportion of subjects treated, the proportion of resistance decreased when the prevalence of bacteria increased. This difference in resistance in relation to serotype may explain the difference in macrolide/lincosamide and doxycycline susceptibility observed between human and pig strains, because all human strains tested belonged to serotype 2.
In conclusion, this study showed the efficacy of ß-lactams against French isolates of S. suis. However, reduced susceptibility or resistance to penicillin G in S. suis has been reported in other countries.11,12,21,24 Therefore, it seems very important to monitor susceptibility of S. suis to penicillins, still the treatment of choice for human or pig S. suis infections. In France, the evolution of antibiotic susceptibility of S. suis will be surveyed using a novel epidemiological network, RESAPATH, which has been running since the beginning of the year 2001. The aim of this network is to collect results of susceptibility testing carried out by regional veterinary laboratories and thus to follow the evolution of resistance in common pathogenic bacteria from cattle, pigs and poultry. These laboratories routinely use the disc diffusion method described in this article and about 70% of them use sheep blood. Mechanisms of resistance detected by this network will be studied in our laboratory or in collaboration with other French research centres.
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Acknowledgements |
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Footnotes |
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References |
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32 . Austin, D. J., Kakehashi, M. & Anderson, R. M. (1997). The transmisssion dynamics of antibiotic-resistant bacteria: the relationship between resistance in commensal organisms and antibiotic consumption. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences 264, 162938.[ISI][Medline]