Characterisation of laboratory-generated vancomycin intermediate resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains

Vancomycin has been the drug of choice for 30 years for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Emergence of decreased vancomycin susceptibility in MRSA strains presents a significant clinical problem with few therapeutic options. This study was performed to generate and characterise S. aureus strains with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin. Eighteen S. aureus strains were subjected to serial passaging on vancomycin to generate vancomycin intermediate resistant S. aureus (VISA) strains. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination was performed for the parent and the passaged cultures with 13 different antibiotics. The strains were tested by the following five methods: simplified population analysis; CDC method; modified vancomycin agar screen; population analysis profile (PAP); and modified population analysis (PAP-area under the curve (AUC) ratio). Phenotypic changes such as doubling time, synergy with β-lactam antibiotics and effect on norA efflux pumps were also studied for these strains. The result indicated that 8 VISA mutants (vancomycin MICs, 8-16 μg/mL) were generated in vitro from the 18 S. aureus strains. The CDC and modified agar methods proved to be the most sensitive and specific methods for detection of VISA strains. The PAP for all the VISA strains ranged from 12 μg/mL to >16 μg/mL, with a PAP-AUC ratio of >1.3. All mutants showed increased doubling time compared with their parent isolate. Synergism of the vancomycin and β-lactam combinations was observed for all methicillin-resistant mutants. Upon acquisition of vancomycin resistance, a few mutants showed decreased oxacillin resistance. Two VISA strains were chosen for molecular characterisation of the mecA gene and one mutant showed genotypic changes with deletion of mecA. Loss of norA efflux pumps leading to fluoroquinolone sensitivity was also observed in four mutants.