Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Vol 39, 687-695, Copyright © 1997 by The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
WK Liu, MR Brown and TS Elliott
The mechanisms whereby low amperage (10-100 microA) electric current (DC)
is bactericidal were investigated with Staphylococcus epidermidis and
Staphylococcus aureus. A zone of inhibition test involving the insertion of
an anode and cathode into an agar plate inoculated with a lawn of bacteria
was used to study the antimicrobial activity of electric current. A zone of
inhibition was produced around the cathode when 10 microA (DC) was applied
for 16 h. The diameter of the zone was greatly reduced in the presence of
catalase. There was no zone around the cathode when the test was carried
out under anaerobic conditions. H2O2 was produced at the cathode surface
under aerobic conditions but not in the absence of oxygen. A salt-bridge
apparatus was used to confirm that H2O2 was produced at the cathode and
chlorine at the anode. The antimicrobial activity of low amperage electric
current under anaerobic conditions and in the absence of chloride ions
against bacteria attached to the surface of a current carrying electrode
was also investigated. Antibacterial activity was reduced under anaerobic
conditions, which is compatible with the role of H2O2 as a primary
bactericidal agent of electricity associated with the cathode. A reduction
in chloride ions did not significantly reduce the antibacterial activity
suggesting that chlorine plays only a minor role in the bactericidal
activity towards organisms attached to anodal electrode surfaces. The
localized production of H2O2 and chlorine and the intrinsic activity due to
electric current may offer a useful method for eradicating bacteria from
catheter surfaces.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Mechanisms of the bactericidal activity of low amperage electric current (DC)
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK.
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