The activity of the penicillanic acid sulphone, sulbactam, was investigated in vitro. The antibiotic exhibited similar activity to benzylpenicillin against ampicillin-sensitive Escherichia coli and maintained its activity against most ampicillin-resistant strains of enterobacteria. Sub-inhibitory concentrations of sulbactam restored the activity of ampicillin against most resistant enterobacteria irrespective of species. In experiments in an in-vitro model of the treatment of bacterial cystitis, sulbactam alone suppressed bacterial growth for therapeutically acceptable periods, providing sufficient concentration of the drug was achieved. Concentrations of sulbactam that alone had no antibacterial effect allowed ampicillin to achieve a prolonged inhibitory effect against otherwise resistant strains.
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Greenwood et al. (1982) studied this question.