Influence of mucin on the activity of the antiseptic Lavasept against Staphylococcus aureus.
BACKGROUND
Lavasept, containing the polymeric biguanide polyhexanide, may be effective against Staphylococcus aureus colonizing the nasal mucosa. To obtain basic data on its suitability for that purpose, its antimicrobial activity was examined in the presence of mucin.


METHODS
A disk diffusion test was applied using Mueller-Hinton agar, and disks soaked with a therapeutic and a 10-fold higher concentration of Lavasept. Commercially available mucin preparations from porcine stomach were added to the test system. Reference strains and 20 clinically isolates of S. aureus, and reference strains of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, and Candida albicans were tested.


RESULTS
Supplementation of the test medium with 1% mucin completely abolished the activity of disks loaded with the therapeutically used concentration of the antiseptic. The neutralizing effect of mucin occurred with all test strains.


CONCLUSIONS
The inactivation of Lavasept by mucin may hamper a reliable clearance of nasal S. aureus carriage.
Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Essen, Essen, Germany. rainer.ansorg@uni-essen.de
Rainer A M
RA
Ansorg
Tareq
T
Azem
Werner H
WH
Fabry
Peter-M
PM
Rath
D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001645:Biguanides; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009077:Mucins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009296:Nasal Cavity; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity
D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D001645:Biguanides; D009077:Mucins