Beta-Lactamase Inhibitors: Another Approach to Overcoming Antimicrobial Resistance

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Abstract
Resistance of most clinical pathogens to beta-lactam antimicrobial agents is currently primarily mediated by the microorganisms' ability to product beta-lactamases. There are a variety of beta-lactamases which are primarily differentiated by whether they are plasmid- or chromosome-mediated and by their substrate and inhibition profiles. The most common group of beta-lactamases produced by clinical isolates are the plasmid-mediated TEM enzymes (Richmond-Sykes type III a) which exist in many Enterobacteriaceae, Hemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria species. Development of new beta-lactam antimicrobial agents during the past decades has resulted in a number of drugs with increased, albeit not total, resistance to beta-lactamases. Another approach has been the development of beta-lactamase inhibitors that can be used with a beta-lactam drug to overcome the resistance created by the beta-lactamase.

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