African Journal of
Pharmacy and Pharmacology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Pharm. Pharmacol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0816
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJPP
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 2298

Full Length Research Paper

New activity for old drug: In vitro activities of vitamin K3 and menadione sodium bisulfite against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Ganjun Yuan*
  • Ganjun Yuan*
  • College of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Zhimin Road, Nanchang 330045, China
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Xiaoyi Zhu
  • Xiaoyi Zhu
  • College of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Zhimin Road, Nanchang 330045, China
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Peibo Li
  • Peibo Li
  • College of Life Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Xingan Road, Guangzhou 510275, China
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Qinghua Zhang
  • Qinghua Zhang
  • College of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Zhimin Road, Nanchang 330045, China
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Jincheng Cao
  • Jincheng Cao
  • College of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Zhimin Road, Nanchang 330045, China
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  •  Received: 28 September 2013
  •  Accepted: 15 April 2014
  •  Published: 08 May 2014

Abstract

To discover new lead compounds against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), trimethylhydroquinone, vitamins K1, K2, K3 and menadione sodium bisulfite were targeted for anti-MRSA assay. Their anti-MRSA activities were evaluated by agar diffusion method, and their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined by broth microdilution method. The results showed that trimethylhydroquinone, vitamin K3 and menadione sodium bisulfite presented obvious anti-MRSA activity, and their MICs against MRSA ATCC 33592 and three clinical MRSA isolates were successively 16 to 32, 8 to 16 and 16 µg/ml. Vitamins K1 and K2 showed no anti-MRSA activity when the test discs respectively carried 1024 µg of them. These indicated that the anti-MRSA activity would disappear when the methyl of vitamin K3 was substituted by alkyl that contained four isopentenyl units, and vitamin K3 probably has an ancillary effect on the treatment of MRSA infection.

Key words: Vitamin K3, menadione sodium bisulfate, trimethylhydroquinone, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Abbreviation

MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; MIC, minimum inhibitory concentration. 

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This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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