THE ACTIVITY OF METAL-COMPOUNDS AGAINST AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC-BACTERIA

We evaluated the antimicrobial activity of two metal compounds, JM-1397 (OsO2[xylyl]2) and JM-2469 (AuCl[S2CPEt3]). Both inhibited methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus at concentrations of 0.5-2-mu-g/ml, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC90) of 1-mu-g/ml for JM-1397 and 0.5-mu-g/ml for JM-2469. Similar concentrations inhibited methicillin-susceptible and -resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (S. epidermidis, S. haemolyticus, and S. saprophyticus). JM-2469 inhibited group A, B, C, F, and G beta-hemolytic streptococci and viridans group streptococci at 1-8-mu-g/ml (MIC90 4-mu-g/ml) but Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium had MICs of 8-16-mu-g/ml. JM-1397 had MICs for these organisms of >64-mu-g/ml. Bacteroides fragilis, other Bacteroides, and Clostridium species were inhibited by less-than-or-equal-to 0.12-4-mu-g/ml (MIC90, 0.5-mu-g/ml). MICs of both compounds for Enterobacteriaceae and Pseud-monas spp. were >64-mu-g/ml. These studies show that osmium and gold compounds have potential as topical agents against Gram-positive and anaerobic species.