Range of Antibiotic Activity of Protoanemonin.

Abstract

Protoanemonin inhibited the growth of all the 40 aerobic and anaerobic bacteria tested. All but 8 of these were potential human pathogens. The maximum dilution of protoanemonin which was effective against the bacteria varied from 1-6000 to 1-330,000 The antibacterial activity of protoanemonin was independent of the acidity of the medium, the size of the inoculum and the age of the culture within the limits tested. 11 fungi, 5 of which were human pathogens, were similarly inhibited by protoanemonin and 2 protozoa, Tetrahymena geleii and Trypanosoma gambiense, were prevented from growing in dilutions of protoanemonin varying from 1-200,000 to 1-1,600,000. No inhibition of the growth of a staphylococcus and a coli bacteriophage or of influenza virus was demonstrable by the techniques employed. A dilution of 1-1,000,000 protoanemonin was toxic for chicken tissue culture epithelial and fibroblastic cells.