[Antibacterial effects of the combinations of azlocillin with other antibiotics].

Evaluating the synergistic effects of antibiotic associations is by no means an easy task owing to the diversity of the test methods utilized for this purpose. Data extracted from 11 reports published between 1975 and 1982 and concerning associations of azlocillin with various aminoglycosides (gentamicin, sisomycin, netilmicin, amikacin, tobramycin and dibekacin) and with two beta-lactam antibiotics (cloxacillin and cefotaxime) are reviewed in this article. On the whole, a synergistic effect against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacteriaceae was most frequently observed with the azlocillin-aminoglycoside association. This effect was usually more pronounced with organisms showing low sensitivity to azlocillin and less pronounced with organisms resistant to aminoglycosides. As often pointed out, there is no general rule that would help predict with certainty from the sensitivity of a strain whether or not any given antibiotic association will act synergistically on that strain.