TY - JOUR
T1 - Suppression of bacterial adherence by subminimal inhibitory concentrations of β-lactam and aminoglycoside antibiotics
AU - Ofek, Itzhak
AU - Beachey, Edwin H.
AU - Eisenstein, Barry I.
AU - Alkan, Michael L.
AU - Sharon, Nathan
N1 - Funding Information:
These investigations were supported by program-directed research funds from the U.S. Veterans Administration and by research grants no. AI-13550 and AI-l0085 from the U.S. Public Health Service. Dr. Beachey is the recipient of a medical investigatorship from the U.S. Veterans Administration. Dr. Sharon is an Established Investigator of the Chief Scientist's Bureau, Israel Ministry of Health. We thank Dr. D. Mirelman for stimulating discussions and helpful suggestions. We also thank Loretta Hatmaker and Valerie Long for technical assistance and Mrs. Johnnie Smith for secretarial assistance. Please address requests for reprints to Dr. E. H. Beachey, Veterans Administration Hospital, 1030 Jefferson Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 38104. • Present address: Department of Human Microbiology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
PY - 1979/1/1
Y1 - 1979/1/1
N2 - Nonseptate filaments of Escherichia coli obtained by growth of a temperature-sensitive mutant of the organism at its restrictive temperature in the absence of antibiotics or at its permissive temperature in the presence of approximately one-half the MIC of penicillin (27 μg/ml; MIC of penicillin, 50 μg/ml) lacked the ability both to bind to mannose and to adhere to host tissues. Addition of low concentrations (0.5-10 μg/ml) of streptomycin to cultures of E. coli resulted in marked suppression of the mannose-binding and adhering ability of streptomycin-sensitive E. coli (MIC, 30 μg/ml). In contrast, up to 5, 000 μg of streptomycin/ml had no effect on an isogenic streptomycin-resistant mutant of E. coli (MIC, 20, 000 μg/ml). No concentration of penicillin or streptomycin that was tested was able to suppress either the mannose-binding or the adhering ability of E. coli once those activities had been acquired by the organism. These results suggest that subminimal inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics suppress the ability of bacteria to adhere to cells.
AB - Nonseptate filaments of Escherichia coli obtained by growth of a temperature-sensitive mutant of the organism at its restrictive temperature in the absence of antibiotics or at its permissive temperature in the presence of approximately one-half the MIC of penicillin (27 μg/ml; MIC of penicillin, 50 μg/ml) lacked the ability both to bind to mannose and to adhere to host tissues. Addition of low concentrations (0.5-10 μg/ml) of streptomycin to cultures of E. coli resulted in marked suppression of the mannose-binding and adhering ability of streptomycin-sensitive E. coli (MIC, 30 μg/ml). In contrast, up to 5, 000 μg of streptomycin/ml had no effect on an isogenic streptomycin-resistant mutant of E. coli (MIC, 20, 000 μg/ml). No concentration of penicillin or streptomycin that was tested was able to suppress either the mannose-binding or the adhering ability of E. coli once those activities had been acquired by the organism. These results suggest that subminimal inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics suppress the ability of bacteria to adhere to cells.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0018511608&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/clinids/1.5.832
DO - 10.1093/clinids/1.5.832
M3 - Article
C2 - 396637
AN - SCOPUS:0018511608
SN - 0162-0886
VL - 1
SP - 832
EP - 837
JO - Reviews of Infectious Diseases
JF - Reviews of Infectious Diseases
IS - 5
ER -