Frequency of selection of fluoroquinolone-resistant mutants of Neisseria gonorrhoeae exposed to gemifloxacin and four other quinolones

We studied the frequency of mutation of clinical isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (two nalidixic acid susceptible and two nalidixic acid resistant), and the stability of the mutants obtained, in the presence of three different concentrations of five fluoroquinolones. The frequency of mutation was low for all the quinolones. Only one N. gonorrhoeae mutant, obtained with trovafloxacin at 4 × MIC presented a stable increase in the MIC of this quinolone, not attributable to novel mutation(s), both in the gyrA and parC genes, although not showing any increase in the MIC of the other quinolones tested. In summary, gemifloxacin was the only quinolone tested for which resistant mutants were not obtained.