Release of phosphorus-32-containing compounds from Micrococcus lysodeikticus treated with chlorhexidine

Abstract

Chlorhexidine has been shown to cause the release of cellular constituents from phosphorus‐32 labelled cells of Micrococcus lysodeikticus suspended in distilled water or in phosphate buffer. An initial rapid release is followed by a slower secondary release. This secondary release is inhibited by high concentrations of chlorhexidine. The release depends on the chlorhexidine to cell ratio and not on the absolute bactericide concentration.

Interaction of Chlorhexidine with Cytoplasmic Membranes of Streptococcus mutans GS-5

“…In this study, SDS-PAGE clearly showed that CHX exerted selective precipitation o f membrane and cy toplasmic proteins in S. mutans. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the action of CHX is mainly con fined to the cytoplasmic membrane [Rye and Wiseman, 1964;Davies, 1973;Elferickand Booij, 1973]. CHX adsorbs rapidly to the outer surface of bacteria [Fitzgerald et al, 1989].…”

“…Hugo and Longworth [1966] demonstrated that low concen trations of CHX allowed the cytoplasmic constituents o f Es cherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus to leak out, whereas higher concentrations coagulated them within the cells. It has been suggested that molecular orientation of the drug adsorbed to the oriented lipid and lipid-protein compo nents of the cell membrane could produce sufficient mem brane disorganization, which will cause the leakage of cell constituents [Rye and Wiseman, 1964;Salton, 1968], How ever, the nature of the disruptive reaction has not yet been investigated. In order to explore more fully the nature of CHX-binding proteins, we examined the number of mem brane proteins of S. mutans GS-5 that can be resolved electrophoretically, to determine their molecular weights and isoelectric points, and to investigate the effect of CHX on such proteins.…”

Chemical fractionation of phosphorus-32 labelled cells of Micrococcus lysodeikticus treated with chlorhexidine

“…The initial rapid release (1-2 hr) has been attributed to cell membrane damage allowing the leakage of small molecules from the cells, and the slower secondary release to autolytic breakdown in the damaged cells (Rye & Wiseman, 1964). The antibacterial action of chlorhexidine has now been further investigated by studying the effect of temperature on the patterns of release and by a chemical fractionation of untreated and chlorhexidine-treated cells. …”

“…The method used was that described by Rye & Wiseman (1964 Table 1 shows the percentage of 32P released from untreated and chlorhexidine-treated cells maintained at I", 20", 30" and 40" after 0.5, 2 and Both (a) and (b) gradually increase over 21 hr. Fig.…”

The effect of chlorhexidine on the electrophoretic mobility, cytoplasmic constituents, dehydrogenase activity and cell walls of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

“…T has been shown that chlorhexidine causes the release of cytoplasmic I constituents from bacterial cells (Hugo & Longworth, 1964a;Rye & Wiseman, 1964;, presumably by damaging the cytoplasmic membrane of the cell. The nature of the disruptive reaction and the cause of the apparent inhibition of leakage have been examined and an attempt made to correlate leakage with inactivation of dehydrogenase activity (Hugo, 1954).…”