- Ersoy, Selvi C;
- Otmishi, Mariam;
- Milan, Vanessa T;
- Li, Liang;
- Pak, Youngju;
- Mediavilla, Jose;
- Chen, Liang;
- Kreiswirth, Barry;
- Chambers, Henry F;
- Proctor, Richard A;
- Xiong, Yan Q;
- Fowler, Vance G;
- Bayer, Arnold S
Addition of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) to standard antimicrobial susceptibility testing medium reveals certain methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains to be highly susceptible to β-lactams. We investigated the prevalence of this phenotype (NaHCO3 responsiveness) to two β-lactams among 58 clinical MRSA bloodstream isolates. Of note, ∼75% and ∼36% of isolates displayed the NaHCO3 responsiveness phenotype to cefazolin (CFZ) and oxacillin (OXA), respectively. Neither intrinsic β-lactam MICs in standard Mueller-Hinton broth (MHB) nor population analysis profiles were predictive of this phenotype. Several genotypic markers (clonal complex 8 [CC8]; agr I and spa t008) were associated with NaHCO3 responsiveness for OXA.