Susceptibility to pleuromutilins in Brachyspira (Serpulina) hyodysenteriae.

The pleuromutilins are the only antimicrobial agents with sufficient minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values left to treat swine dysentery in Sweden. Other antimicrobials are either not approved for use against swine dysentery or only partly active against Brachyspira hyodysenteriae. To date, in Sweden two pleuromutilins, tiamulin and valnemulin, are authorized for use in pigs. This study includes a comparison between MICs of tiamulin and valnemulin for Swedish field isolates of B. hyodysenteriae, as determined by broth dilution. For different isolates the MIC of tiamulin was between 0 and 8 times higher than that of valnemulin. No resistance to pleuromutilins was recorded (tiamulin MIC range 0.031-2 microg/ml, valnemulin MIC range < or =0.016-1 microg/ml). In vitro development of tiamulin resistance was also studied. Two B. hyodysenteriae and two B. pilosicoli strains became resistant to tiamulin following reiterated passages on agar containing tiamulin in increasing concentrations. The resistance emerged slowly and three of the strains that went through more than 60 passages increased their tiamulin MICs from 0.031-0.25 to more than 128 microg/ml. The tiamulin MIC for one B. hyodysenteriae strain that went through 29 passages increased from 0.0125 to 4 microg/ml. One B. pilosicoli strain developed cross-resistance to valnemulin; the MIC increased from 0.25 to more than 64 microg/ml. The valnemulin MIC for one B. hyodysenteriae strain increased from 0.031 microg/ml to 32 microg/ml. Valnemulin MIC was not determined for the B. hyodysenteriae strain that only went through 29 passages. The valnemulin MIC of the other B. pilosicoli strain increased from 0.031 to 4 microg/ml.