title: Loss of penicillinase plasmids of Staphylococcus aureus after treatment with L-ascorbic acid.
abstract: When 2 clinical strains of plasmid-mediated penicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were treated with 1 mM sodium ascorbate for 6 h, 12-35% colony-forming units (CFU) irreversibly lost their ability to produce beta-lactamase. Agarose gel electrophoresis showed the disappearance of the plasmid bands from the lysates of colonies in which susceptibility to penicillin was induced by ascorbate treatment. Since ascorbic acid is a compound that is completely non-toxic, the possibility of its therapeutic use in the treatment of multiresistant bacterial diseases is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología, Lusara AE, Mexico D.F.
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Amábile Cuevas
mesh_terms: D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002104:Cadmium / Q000494:pharmacology; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D008628:Mercury / Q000494:pharmacology; D010405:Penicillinase / Q000235:genetics*; D011815:R Factors / Q000187:drug effects*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002104:Cadmium; D010405:Penicillinase; D008628:Mercury; D001205:Ascorbic Acid