Antibacterial Activity of Netilmicin a New Aminoglycoside Antibiotic Compared with That of Gentamicin

摘要

The antibacterial activity of netilmicin (Sch 20569), a new semisynthetic aminoglycoside, was compared with that of gentamicin against a variety of gram-negative bacteria, staphylococci, and streptococci. Both antibiotics had similar activity against most organisms, but netilmicin had appreciably greater activity against gram-negative organisms that were resistant to gentamicin because these species synthesized aminoglycoside 3-N-acetyltransferase I or aminoglycoside 2″-O-nucleotidyltransferase. Netilmicin was also more active than gentamicin against gentamicin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus that produced two enzymes–aminoglycoside-2″-O-phosphotransferase and aminoglycoside-6′-N-acetyltransferase.