Abstract
A WIDE range of therapeutic substances(for example,arsphenamine1, 2-methyl-1: 4-naphthaquinone2, pencillin and other mould products3,4 and tervalent antimonials5)is inactivated by cysteine. Colwell and McCall2 found that cysteine antagonizes the antibacterial action of 2-methyl 2-methyl-3-chloro- and 2: 6-dimethyl-l: 4-naphthaquinone on B. coli, but not that of 2-methyl-3-methoxy-l: 4-naphthaquinone, and postulated that inactivation might be caused by reaction of the sulphydryl group from the cysteine at the 3-position of the quinone. Geiger and Conn6 have suggested a somewhat similar mechanism for the inactivation of patulin and penicillic acid.
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References
Eagle, H., J. Pharm. Exp. Ther., 66, 436 (1939).
Colwell, C. A., and McCall, M., Science, 101, 592 (1945).
Cavallito, C. J., and Bailey, J. H., J. Bact., 50, 69 (1945).
Bondi, A., Dietz, C. C., and Spaulding, E. H., Science, 103, 399 (1946).
Chen, G., Geiling, E. M. K., and MacHatton, R. M., J. Infect. Dis., 76, 152 (1945).
Geiger, W. B., and Conn, J. E., J. Amer. Chem. Soc, 67, 112 (1945).
Kolthoff, I. M., and Lingane, J. J., "Polarography", 407 (New York, 1941).
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PAGE, J., WALLER, J. Inactivation of Antibacterial Substances with Cysteine. Nature 157, 838 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/157838a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/157838a0
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