Contribution of -lactamase and PBP amino acid substitutions to amoxicillin/clavulanate resistance in -lactamase-positive, amoxicillin/clavulanate-resistant Haemophilus influenzae

Abstract

The roles of β-lactamase and alterations in penicillin-binding protein in the development of amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanate resistance in two β-lactamase-positive, amoxicillin/clavulanate-resistant (BLPACR) strains of Haemophilus influenzae were investigated. Seven β-lactamase-negative, ampicillin-resistant (BLNAR) strains were also studied for comparison of their resistance mechanisms. All strains had been recovered from patients in Japan. The TEM type β-lactamase of the two BLPACR strains had 100% homology with the amino acid sequences of published TEM-1 β-lactamase, showing that amoxicillin/clavulanate resistance was not associated with mutations in this β-lactamase. However, these strains, as well as the seven BLNAR strains, had multiple mutations in ftsI, which encodes penicillin binding protein 3 (PBP3). The transformation of H. influenzae Rd strain with amplified ftsI genes from two BLPACR and two BLNAR strains enabled the selection of amoxicillin/clavulanate-resistant transformants with the same mutations as their parent strains. We concluded that amoxicillin/clavulanate resistance in the two BLPACR strains was due to changes in PBP3. The possibility of the presence of an extended spectrum β-lactamase was excluded in the BLPACR strains studied.