Antimicrobial Effect of Simple Lipids with Different Branches at the Methyl End Group

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Abstract
Various fatty acids of branched nature possess fungistatic and bacteriostatic properties. Some of these, particularly those of iso -configuration, strongly enhance the effect of conventional antimicrobial agents that act inside the cell membrane. A relation between this biological effect and the collapse properties of the corresponding monomolecular surface film on water has been observed. In this work, a series of fatty acids with a slightly smaller end group than iso -propyl, the ω-cyclopropane fatty acids, as well as one possessing a somewhat larger end group, the neo -branched fatty acids, have been examined. The ω-cyclopropane fatty acids were found to be more fungistatic than the iso -acids studied earlier. Furthermore, both cyclopropane and neo -fatty acids of short chain lengths exhibited synergistic effects in combination with tetramethylthiuramdisulfide.