ArticleAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy2009
A novel gene, erm(41), confers inducible macrolide resistance to clinical isolates of Mycobacterium abscessus but is absent from Mycobacterium chelonae.
Article in Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 327 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
327 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 637 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antibiotic treatment for non-tuberculous mycobacteria lung infection in people with cystic fibrosis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Global trends in the proportion of macrolide-resistant Mycobacterium Species: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Bedaquiline for treatment of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM): a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2024Pooled it
- Treatment of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Pulmonary Disease: An Official ATS/ERS/ESCMID/IDSA Clinical Practice Guideline.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2020Guideline
- Treatment of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease: an official ATS/ERS/ESCMID/IDSA clinical practice guideline.The European respiratory journal · 2020Guideline
- Antibiotic treatment for nontuberculous mycobacteria lung infection in people with cystic fibrosis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- TACTIC: A transfer learning framework to predict drug interactions in emerging pathogens.Cell reports methods · 2026Article
- Multipronged Cell Wall-Targeting Converts Ineffective Antibiotics into a Potent Regimen against Mycobacterium abscessus.ACS infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Utility of RGM medium for recovery ofIranian journal of microbiology · 2026Article
- CRISPRi-mediatedAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2026Article
- Antibiotic dose-response curves can measure antibiotic activity againstAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2026Article
- Review
- The Role of β-Lactam Antibiotics in Treating Mycobacterium abscessus: From Laboratory Insights to Clinical Applications and the Case for Clinical Trials.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Review
- Protective mechanism of action of the antifungal drug naftifine againstAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2026Article
- Article
- Analysis of nontuberculous mycobacteria laboratory detection data from a designated hospital in Henan Province, China.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Widespread macrolide resistance among rapidly growing mycobacteria due to plasmids containing erm(55).Scientific reports · 2026Article
- TheMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Fluoroquinolones as the linchpin of tuberculosis therapy: contrasting efficacy and resistance profiles inFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Challenges in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Mycobacterium abscessus Infections.Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical · 2026Review
267 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Mycobacterium abscessus infections tend to respond poorly to macrolide-based chemotherapy, even though the organisms appear to be susceptible to clarithromycin. Circumstantial evidence suggested that at least some M. abscessus isolates might be inducibly resistant to macrolides. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the macrolide phenotype of M. abscessus clinical isolates. Inducible resistance to clarithromycin (MIC > 32 microg/ml) was found for 7 of 10 clinical isolates of M. abscessus previously considered susceptible; the remaining 3 isolates were deemed to be susceptible (MIC <or= 0.5 microg/ml). Inducible resistance was conferred by a novel erm gene, erm(41), which was present in all 10 isolates and in an isolate of Mycobacterium bolletii (M. abscessus type II). However, the erm(41) alleles were nonfunctional in the three susceptible M. abscessus isolates. No evidence of erm(41) was found in Mycobacterium chelonae, and an isolate of Mycobacterium massiliense appeared to be an erm(41) deletion mutant. Expression of erm(41) in M. abscessus conferred resistance to clarithromycin and erythromycin and the ketolide HMR3004. However, this species was found to be intrinsically resistant, independent of erm(41), to clindamycin, quinupristin (streptogramin B), and telithromycin. The ability to confer resistance to clindamycin and telithromycin, but not quinupristin, was demonstrated by expressing erm(41) in Maycobacterium smegmatis. Exposure of M. abscessus to the macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B-ketolide agents increased the levels of erm(41) mRNA 23- to 250-fold within 24 h. The inducible macrolide resistance phenotype of some M. abscessus isolates may explain the lack of efficacy of macrolide-based chemotherapy against this organism.
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