How Effective Is Minocycline For Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii?
When most of us think about minocycline, it is for the oral treatment of Gram positive infection, in particular methicillin-resistant Staph aureus (MRSA). In fact, the drug is effective against multidrug resistant Gram negative organisms including Acinetobacter baumannii.
This point was driven home to me recently when I saw that my favorite infectious disease journal Clinical Infectious Diseases published a supplement on the topic.1 Here is the link to the table of contents: https://tinyurl.com/qhwuvty . All of the articles are available as free full text.
The Medicines Company sponsored this supplement and is now marketing an IV formulation of minocycline, Minocin, for this purpose so take that into account while reading the papers. That being said, both of the Guest Editors, Debra Goff, PharmD, and Keith Kaye, MD, MPH, are top quality, fair balanced researchers and authors. (Disclosure: I have no financial relationship with this company)
The efficacy of minocycline against Acinetobacter baumannii should not come as a huge surprise. We often consider tigecycline (Tygacil, Pfizer), a minocycline derivative, one of the drugs of choice for both extended spectrum beta lactamase-resistant and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, producing Gram negatives including multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.
Also of interest in this supplement is a brief obituary for one of the true giants in the field of infectious diseases, Robert Moellering Jr., MD. I had the opportunity to meet Bob on a few occasions at various meetings and advisory boards. He was a true gentleman who worked closely with the podiatrists at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Over the years, I have read his work and marveled at his brilliance. He will be missed.
Reference
1. Goff D, Kaye K. Minocycline for the treatment of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. Clin Infect Dis. 2014; 59(Suppl 6):S365-88.
This blog originally appeared on the Handbook of Lower Extremity Infections Website https://www.leinfections.com/antibiotics/minocycline-and-the-treatment-of-multidrug-resistant-acinetobacter-baumannii/ and has been adapted with permission from Warren Joseph, DPM, FIDSA, and Data Trace Publishing Company. For more information about the Handbook of Lower Extremity Infections, visit www.leinfections.com/ .
