ACTIVITY OF KRM-1648 ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH ETHAMBUTOL OR CLARITHROMYCIN AGAINST MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUM IN BEIGE MOUSE MODEL OF DISSEMINATED INFECTION

Rifamycins are active against slowly growing mycobacteria, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium kansasii, but the majority of rifamycins thus far investigated both in vitro and in vivo are inactive or have only modest activity against the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). We investigated the activity of three doses of the semisynthetic benzoxazinorifamycin KRM 1648, alone or in combination with ethambutol or clarithromycin, in beige mice challenged with the MAC strain 101. Our results show the following. (i) KRM 1648 was significantly effective against MAC infection as determined by the reduction of the number of bacteria in the blood, liver, and spleen when administered at doses of 20 and 40 mg/kg of body weight per day but not at 10 mg/kg/day, compared with untreated controls. (ii) KRM 1648 (40 mg/kg/day) administered in combination with ethambutol (100 mg/kg/day) resulted in significant reduction in bacteremia compared with values for untreated controls (P < 0.001), KRM 1648 alone (P = 0.019), and ethambutol alone (P = 0.003). Furthermore, the combination of KRM 1648 and ethambutol was associated with a significant decrease of the number of bacteria in the spleen and the liver compared with values for both untreated controls and each drug alone (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). (iii) KRM 1648 (40 mg/kg/day) administered in combination with clarithromycin (200 mg/kg/day) resulted in a significant decrease of the number of bacteria in the blood and the spleen compared with the number for untreated controls (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). In our experience, using MAC 101 as the challenging organism, KRM 1648 is the first rifamycin with significant activity in vivo against MAC infection in beige mice.