Sub-Inhibitory Meropenem Restores Ceftazidime Susceptibility in Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae: A Phenotypic Insight Into Collateral Sensitivity and Molecular mechanism.

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance continues to outsmart modern medicine, especially in hospital settings where infections are often resistant to multiple drugs.mystudy dives into this challenge by investigating the combined effect of two beta-lactam antibiotics—Ceftazidime and Meropenem—to understand how they might complement each other against resistant bacterial strains. Rather than viewing combination therapy as random trial and error, I approached it through both computational and experimental methods.

Using R-based genomic data extrapolation, I identified resistance genes and mapped resistant pathways to locate synergy points—molecular intersections where two drugs might double down on a pathogen’s defenses.myexperimental pipeline involved culturing clinical samples, confirming species via phoE PCR, and performing AST using both disc diffusion and checkerboard MIC assays. The results were encouraging: I observed synergistic activity between Ceftazidime and Meropenem in several resistant strains.

Mechanistically, although both are beta-lactams, they target slightly different penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). This complementary action helps bypass certain resistance mechanisms like beta-lactamase production or efflux pumps, increasing their overall efficacy when combined.myfindings offer a fresh perspective on beta-lactam synergy and highlight the need for smarter, tailored antibiotic pairings in an age of rising resistance.