title: Chlorhexidine: antibacterial action and bacterial resistance.
abstract: Chlorhexidine is a clinically important antiseptic, disinfectant and preservative. It is a potent membrane-active agent against bacteria and inhibits outgrowth, but not germination, of bacterial spores, although it is not sporicidal. It shows high activity against wild-type and outer membrane mutants of Escherichia coli but some gram-negative bacteria are resistant to chlorhexidine by mechanisms not yet fully understood, although they appear to involve the outer, rather than the inner, membrane.
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects; D002710:Chlorhexidine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D002710:Chlorhexidine