Ceftriaxone

Neisseria

Ciprofloxacin

Population

Antibiotics

Bacteria

Biology

Microbiology

Virology

Neisseria meningitidis

Men who have sex with men

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Syphilis

Pathogenic bacteria

Azithromycin

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Antimicrobial

Genetics

Medicine

Antibiotic resistance

Environmental health

Scientific Reports

Non-pathogenic Neisseria are a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes for pathogenic Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae . Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at risk of co-colonization with resistant non-pathogenic and pathogenic Neisseria . We assessed if the antimicrobial susceptibility of non-pathogenic Neisseria among MSM differs from a general population and if antimicrobial exposure impacts susceptibility. We recruited 96 participants at our center in Belgium: 32 employees, 32 MSM who did not use antibiotics in the previous 6 months, and 32 MSM who did. Oropharyngeal Neisseria were cultured and identified with MALDI-TOF–MS. Minimum inhibitory concentrations for azithromycin, ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin were determined using E-tests ® and compared between groups with non-parametric tests. Non-pathogenic Neisseria from employees as well as MSM were remarkably resistant. Those from MSM were significantly less susceptible than employees to azithromycin and ciprofloxacin ( p &lt; 0.0001, p &lt; 0.001), but not ceftriaxone ( p = 0.3). Susceptibility did not differ significantly according to recent antimicrobial exposure in MSM. Surveilling antimicrobial susceptibility of non-pathogenic Neisseria may be a sensitive way to assess impact of antimicrobial exposure in a population. The high levels of antimicrobial resistance in this survey indicate that novel resistance determinants may be readily available for future transfer from non-pathogenic to pathogenic Neisseria .

Antimicrobial susceptibility of commensal Neisseria in a general population and men who have sex with men in Belgium