Salicylic acid decreases extracellular biofilm production by Staphylococcus epidermidis: electron microscopic analysis

S Teichberg, BF Farber, AG Wolff, B Roberts - The Journal of infectious …, 1993 - JSTOR
S Teichberg, BF Farber, AG Wolff, B Roberts
The Journal of infectious diseases, 1993JSTOR
Figure 1. Dose-dependent growth curve for isolates of S. epidermidis incubated with
protamine sulfate (PS). heparin, a stable salt is formed that results in loss of coagulant
activity for both compounds [3]. Protamine has been shown to alter bladder surface
proteoglycans (mucin), an effect that is reversed by the administration of heparin [4-6].
Protamine displaces water molecules from surface proteoglycans by ionically binding to
polysaccharides and thereby disrupts the epithelial surface [7]. Parsons et al.[4] have …
Figure 1. Dose-dependent growth curve for isolates of S. epidermidis incubated with protamine sulfate (PS). heparin, a stable salt is formed that results in loss of coagulant activity for both compounds [3]. Protamine has been shown to alter bladder surface proteoglycans (mucin), an effect that is reversed by the administration of heparin [4-6]. Protamine displaces water molecules from surface proteoglycans by ionically binding to polysaccharides and thereby disrupts the epithelial surface [7]. Parsons et al.[4] have reviewed the heparin-reversi-ble permeability changes exerted by protamine sulfate on epithelial surfaces.
These results demonstrate that protamine sulfate has an immediate biocidal effect when given in sufficient concentration (fig-ure 1). Although this study did not define the mechanisms of action of protamine sulfate, the results support the proposed hypothesis that protamine sulfate exerts its antibacterial action by direct deleterious effects on the surface proteoglycans of the bacterial slime (biofilm) of S. epidermidis resulting in an immedi-ate decrease in bacterial viability.
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