Drug susceptibility and biochemistry characteristics of Bartonella quintana strains isolated from monkeys

Objective To understand the biochemistry characteristics and drug susceptibility of Bartonella quintana strains isolated from monkeys and provide evidence to further study of drug resistance mechanism of Bartonella quintana. Methods E test was conducted to test the drug susceptibilities of 1 ATCC reference Bartonella quintana strain and 10 Bartonella quintana strains isolated from monkeys to 14 antibiotics. Results H15SC strain was highly resistant to rifampicin(MIC256)and sensitive to other strain. H98SC strain was resistant to clindamycin and sensitive to other strain. The other 10 stains were resistant to amikacin and polymyxin. All the stains were sensitive to azithromycin, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, erythromycin, tobramycin, chloromycetin, doxycycline, enzathine and benzylpenicillin. Conclusion It was the first time to found that Bartonella strain was highly resistant to rifampicin, but its resistant mechanisms needs further study. It is necessary to promote rational use of rifampicin to prevent the drug resistance of Bartonella strain.