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JAC Advance Access originally published online on April 11, 2005
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2005 55(6):1013-1015; doi:10.1093/jac/dki110
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions{at}oupjournals.org

Propyl paraben induces potassium efflux in Escherichia coli

Jérôme Bredin, Anne Davin-Régli and Jean-Marie Pagès*

Enveloppe Bactérienne, Perméabilité et Antibiotiques, IFR 48, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France

* Corresponding author. Tel: +33-4-91-32-45-87; Fax: +33-4-91-32-46-06; Email: jean-marie.pages{at}medecine.univ-mrs.fr

Objectives: Parabens are currently used as antibacterial preservatives in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food products but there are no precise data concerning their activity on bacterial membranes.

Methods: We analysed the cytoplasmic potassium release during propyl paraben addition by using a selective electrode. Various conditions were assayed to investigate the bacterial paraben susceptibility. We compared the activity of propyl paraben with the activities of colicin A and polymyxin B.

Results: Propyl paraben induced potassium efflux that was related to the porin expression in the bacterial outer membrane. In addition, the presence of spermine, previously described as an efficient OmpF channel-blocker, protected susceptible cells against paraben activity.

Conclusions: Propyl paraben induced potassium release in susceptible Escherichia coli cells similar to that observed with polymyxin B. Moreover, this efflux depended on porin channel activity. This permeabilizing effect is probably related to antibacterial properties of paraben molecules.

Keywords: outer membrane proteins , membrane channels , porins , pore forming molecules


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A. Davin-Regli, R. Chollet, J. Bredin, J. Chevalier, F. Lepine, and J. M. Pages
Enterobacter gergoviae and the prevalence of efflux in parabens resistance
J. Antimicrob. Chemother., April 1, 2006; 57(4): 757 - 760.
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