An investigation of the in vitro anti-bacterial activity of noxythiolin against 1,000 pathogenic bacterial isolates.

The susceptibility of 1,000 recent bacterial isolates to noxythiolin was determined by the disc susceptibility method. No Gram-positive strains were resistant to this method but 56 (5.6%) of Gram-negative strains gave zones of inhibition of 12 mm diameter or less. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the latter were determined by the agar incorporation method. No strains had MIC values greater than 4096 mg/litre. Since concentrations of 50,000 mg/litre can be used for topical treatment, these organisms may be considered susceptible.

Kinetics of adherence of Actinomyces viscosus to saliva-coated silica and hydroxyapatite beads.

Adherence of 14C-labelled strains of Actinomyces viscosus to uncoated and saliva-coated silica and hydroxyapatite beads had both loose and firm components, probably reflecting different subpopulations of bacteria within a single culture. Adherence was characterized by the proportion of bacteria available for each type of adherence and a constant (Kb) for each combination of bacterial strain and bead surface. Loose adherence, which was greater with silica than with hydroxyapatite beads, always involved many more bacteria than firm adherence. Firm adherence was greater with A. viscosus WVU627 than A. viscosus TF11. The association rate constants (Ka) for loose and firm adherence were similar, indicating simultaneous processes, but the dissociation rate constant (Kd) was lower for loose adherence than for firm adherence. Removal of loosely adhering bacteria by washing may only reflect their distance from the bead surface. Silica beads were convenient for studying bacterial adherence and formed an acceptable coating of salivary glycoprotein.