| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies have indicated that a recently described anaerobic bacterium, <it>Atopobium vaginae </it>is associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV). Thus far the four isolates of this fastidious micro-organism were found to be highly resistant to metronidazole and susceptible for clindamycin, two antibiotics preferred for the treatment of BV.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Nine strains of <it>Atopobium vaginae</it>, four strains of <it>Gardnerella vaginalis</it>, two strains of <it>Lactobacillus iners </it>and one strain each of <it>Bifidobacterium breve</it>, <it>B. longum, L. crispatus, L. gasseri </it>and <it>L. jensenii </it>were tested against 15 antimicrobial agents using the Etest.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All nine strains of <it>A. vaginae </it>were highly resistant to nalidixic acid and colistin while being inhibited by low concentrations of clindamycin (range: < 0.016 μg/ml), rifampicin (< 0.002 μg/ml), azithromycin (< 0.016 – 0.32 μg/ml), penicillin (0.008 – 0.25 μg/ml), ampicillin (< 0.016 – 0.94 μg/ml), ciprofloxacin (0.023 – 0.25 μg/ml) and linezolid (0.016 – 0.125 μg/ml). We found a variable susceptibility for metronidazole, ranging from 2 to more than 256 μg/ml. The four <it>G. vaginalis </it>strains were also susceptible for clindamycin (< 0.016 – 0.047 μg/ml) and three strains were susceptible to less than 1 μg/ml of metronidazole. All lactobacilli were resistant to metronidazole (> 256 μg/ml) but susceptible to clindamycin (0.023 – 0.125 μg/ml).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Clindamycin has higher activity against <it>G. vaginalis </it>and <it>A. vaginae </it>than metronidazole, but not all <it>A. vaginae </it>isolates are metronidazole resistant, as seemed to be a straightforward conclusion from previous studies on a more limited number of strains.</p>
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