Clinical Information

Anaerobic bacteria are the greatest component of the human body's normal bacterial flora. Anaerobic bacteria colonize the skin, oral cavity, and genitourinary and lower gastrointestinal tracts and generally do not cause infection. Their presence is important for vitamin and other nutrient absorption and in preventing infection with disease-causing bacteria.

When usual skin and mucosal barriers are compromised, in an anaerobic environment, these bacteria can behave as pathogens. Typical anaerobic infections include periodontitis, abdominal or pelvic abscesses, endometritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, aspiration pneumonia, empyema and lung abscesses, sinusitis, brain abscesses, gas gangrene, and other soft tissue infections.

Anaerobic bacteria grow aggressively in the body under anaerobic conditions and may possess a variety of virulence factors, including capsules and extracellular enzymes. They also can develop resistance to antimicrobials by producing beta-lactamase and other modifying enzymes, and by alterations in membrane permeability and structure of penicillin-binding proteins. Susceptibility testing results are useful to clinicians because anaerobic bacteria are a significant cause of human infection, and they are often resistant to commonly used antimicrobials. Bacteroides and Parabacteroides species produce beta-lactamases. Ertapenem, metronidazole, and clindamycin are generally effective agents, although resistance to clindamycin, and occasionally ertapenem, is increasing.

The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) obtained during antimicrobial susceptibility testing is helpful in indicating the concentration of antimicrobial agent required at the site of infection necessary to inhibit the infecting organism. For each organism-antimicrobial agent combination, the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and/or the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing provides interpretive criteria for determining whether the MIC should be interpreted as susceptible, susceptible dose dependent, intermediate, nonsusceptible, resistant, or epidemiological cutoff value.