Fosfomycin as Partner Drug for Systemic Infection Management. A Systematic Review of its Synergistic Properties from in Vitro and in Vivo Studies

Fosfomycin is being increasingly prescribed for multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. In patients with systemic involvement, intravenous fosfomycin is usually administered as a partner drug, as part of an antibiotic regimen. Hence, the knowledge of fosfomycin pharmacodynamic interactions (synerg...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Roberta Maria Antonello, Luigi Principe, Alberto Enrico Maraolo, Valentina Viaggi, Riccardo Pol, Massimiliano Fabbiani, Francesca Montagnani, Antonio Lovecchio, Roberto Luzzati, Stefano Di Bella
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-08-01
Series:Antibiotics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/9/8/500
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Summary:Fosfomycin is being increasingly prescribed for multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. In patients with systemic involvement, intravenous fosfomycin is usually administered as a partner drug, as part of an antibiotic regimen. Hence, the knowledge of fosfomycin pharmacodynamic interactions (synergistic, additive, indifferent and antagonistic effect) is fundamental for a proper clinical management of severe bacterial infections. We performed a systematic review to point out fosfomycin’s synergistic properties, when administered with other antibiotics, in order to help clinicians to maximize drug efficacy optimizing its use in clinical practice. Interactions were more frequently additive or indifferent (65.4%). Synergism accounted for 33.7% of total interactions, while antagonism occurred sporadically (0.9%). Clinically significant synergistic interactions were mostly distributed in combination with penicillins (51%), carbapenems (43%), chloramphenicol (39%) and cephalosporins (33%) in Enterobactaerales; with linezolid (74%), tetracyclines (72%) and daptomycin (56%) in <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>; with chloramphenicol (53%), aminoglycosides (43%) and cephalosporins (36%) against <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>; with daptomycin (97%) in <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. and with sulbactam (75%) and penicillins (60%) and in <i>Acinetobacter</i> spp. fosfomycin-based antibiotic associations benefit from increase in the bactericidal effect and prevention of antimicrobial resistances. Taken together, the presence of synergistic interactions and the nearly total absence of antagonisms, make fosfomycin a good partner drug in clinical practice.
ISSN:2079-6382