Gentamicin susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from 7 provinces in China

Purpose Gentamicin is a promising antimicrobial for the treatment of gonorrhea. The study aimed to evaluate gentamicin minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates in China. Methods In this study, the agar dilution method was used to determine the MICs of 470 isolates collected in 2016 to four effective antimicrobials (gentamicin, azithromycin, ceftriaxone, and spectinomycin). Results Gentamicin MICs ranged from 1 to 8 mg/L. No isolate was resistant to gentamicin. Of seven isolates simultaneously resistant to azithromycin and ceftriaxone, 6 isolates demonstrated MICs of 4 mg/L or less to gentamicin. No cross relationships were found between MICs of gentamicinand susceptibility profiles of azithromycin, ceftriaxone, and spectinomycin. Conclusion The in vitro results suggest that gentamicin can be a promising treatment option for gonococcal infections in China. Clinical trials to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of gentamicin are required.