Comparative study of the ability of four aminoglycoside assay techniques to detect the inactivation of aminoglycosides by beta-lactam antibiotics

In vitro inactivation of aminoglycosides (tobramycin, gentamicin, and amikacin) by beta-lactams (cefazolin, cefotaxime, moxalactam, carbenicillin, piperacillin, mezlocillin, and azlocillin) was measured using the enzyme-mediated immunoassay (EMIT), fluorescence polarization immunoassay ( TDX ), radioimmunoassay (RIA), and bioassay. No significant inactivation of aminoglycosides was produced by high levels of the three cephalosporins as measured by EMIT, RIA, or bioassay. Inactivation of tobramycin and gentamicin by mezlocillin and azlocillin was comparable to that seen with piperacillin but less than that with carbenicillin. In general, the bioassay detected the greatest degree of aminoglycoside inactivation and the EMIT assay detected the least for all drug combinations. The TDX and RIA techniques were equivalent in their ability to detect aminoglycoside inactivation by beta-lactam antibiotics.