Influence of different media and incubation times for determining the minimum inhibitory concentrations of gepotidacin, ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone against Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Gepotidacin (GSK2140944) is a novel triazaacenaphthylene antibiotic that inhibits bacterial DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV by a distinct binding site, a unique mechanism of action and has been approved for the treatment of urogenital gonorrhea and uncomplicated urinary tract infections. This study assessed the performance of the agar dilution method for gepotidacin, ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone susceptibility testing against Neisseria gonorrhoeae using four different media and four incubation times (18, 20, 24, 48 hours). A total of 30 N. gonorrhoeae isolates including 14 WHO strains were included. The reference agar media was BD Difco GC medium base supplemented with 1% IsoVitaleX and the comparator agar mediums included Sensitest Agar with 5% horse blood (SAHB), Diagnostic Sensitivity Test Agar with 5% horse blood and 1% Vitox (DST), and Mueller Hinton II agar with 5% lysed sheep blood and 20 mg/mL β-NAD (CHOC). The data generated in this study showed that 1.) for gepotidacin, only Sensitest Agar produced results that were in ≥ 90% essential agreement with the reference method, 2.) for ciprofloxacin, ≥ 90% essential agreement with the reference method was observed for Diagnostic Test Agar at 48 hours, Mueller Hinton II agar at 24 hours and Sensitest Agar at 20 and 48 hours and 3.) for ceftriaxone, none of the media tested in this study produced results that were in ≥ 90% essential agreement with the reference method. These study data reinforce the importance of utilizing standardized methodologies for agar dilution susceptibility testing of N. gonorrhoeae.