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JAC Advance Access published online on June 26, 2009
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, doi:10.1093/jac/dkp221
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Original research

A comparison of the activities of lacticin 3147 and nisin against drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus species

Clare Piper1, Lorraine A. Draper1, Paul D. Cotter2,*, R. Paul Ross2,3 and Colin Hill1,3

1 Department of Microbiology, University College Cork, College Road, Cork, Ireland 2 Moorepark Food Research Centre, Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy, Cork, Ireland 3 Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, University College Cork, College Road, Cork, Ireland

Received 12 May 2009; returned 21 May 2009; revised 25 May 2009; accepted 29 May 2009

* Corresponding author. Tel: +353-(0)25-42694; Fax: +353-(0)25-42340; E-mail: paul.cotter{at}teagasc.ie

Objectives: Our goal was to compare the activities of lacticin 3147 and nisin, two of the most well characterized lantibiotics, against antibiotic-resistant staphylococci and enterococci.

Methods: We determined the MICs of lacticin 3147 and nisin for 20 strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 20 strains of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), 6 strains of S. aureus with intermediate resistance to vancomycin (VISA), 5 strains of heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (hVISA) and 4 strains of S. aureus that are susceptible to methicillin.

Results: Lacticin 3147 displayed potent activity against VRE with MIC values between 1.9 and 7.7 mg/L, and varying levels of activity against S. aureus strains (MRSA, 1.9–15.4 mg/L; laboratory strains, ≥15.4 mg/L; hVISA, 15.4–30.9 mg/L; VISA, ≥61.8 mg/L). Nisin was more active against the S. aureus strains in general (MRSA and laboratory strains, 0.5–4.1 mg/L; VISA and hVISA, 2 to ≥8.3 mg/L), but was less effective than lacticin 3147 against VRE (2 to ≥8.3 mg/L).

Conclusions: Nisin is more effective against S. aureus whereas lacticin 3147 possesses greater potency against VRE. The modifications responsible for the vancomycin-resistant phenotypes of hVISA and VISA strains also provide protection against the two lantibiotics.

Key Words: lantibiotics , antimicrobial peptides , MRSA , VISA , VRE


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