Urease Activity and Antibiotic Sensitivity of Bacteria

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Abstract
An investigation was made of the responses of certain urease-positive bacteria to various antibacterial drugs in the presence of highly specific urease inhibitors, in a test of the hypothesis proposed by other workers that inhibition of bacterial urease enhances the sensitivity of the cells to antimicrobial agents. Urease inhibitors employed were seven hydroxamic acids (HA), Six of the seven HA reduced the sensitivity of nine Proteus strains to ampicillin and methenamine mandelate. Two HA increased the sensitivity to colistin, and six HA increased the sensitivity to kanamycin. Investigation of the mechanism of action of the synergistic effect between kanamycin and HA led to the tentative conclusion that potentiation was mediated through an initial alteration of cell permeability by the amino-glycoside antibiotic which permitted accumulation of each of the six HA into the cell, at which point each interacted with pyridoxal phosphate. The single HA which failed to yield synergism with kanamycin failed to interact with pyridoxal phosphate in a nonenzymatic system; the other six HA produced alterations of the normal ultraviolet absorption spectrum of the coenzyme.