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Antibiotic-associated colitis due to Clostridium difficile: double-blind comparison of vancomycin with bacitracin.

A randomized double-blind study was carried out in patients with unresolving antibiotic-associated colitis due to Clostridium difficile, to compare the effect of bacitracin (80,000 U/day) with vancomycin (500 mg/day) on the resolution of symptoms, clearance of organism, and prevention of relapse. Forty-two patients with colitis, 9 of whom had a pseudomembrane, were randomized, 21 patients to each treatment group. The two groups were comparable in age, disease severity, and antibiotic exposure. For a 50% reduction in stool frequency the mean times (+/- SE) were 4.1 +/- 0.4 days for bacitracin and 4.2 +/- 0.4 days for vancomycin. Sixteen patients (76%) had symptom resolution after 7 days of treatment with bacitracin, compared with 18 patients (86%) given vancomycin. Patients who failed to respond were crossed over (blind) to the alternative antibiotic, but tended to be refractory to the alternative medication as well. Vancomycin-treated patients had negative toxin (83% vs. 53%, p = 0.04) and negative stool cultures (81% vs. 52%, p = 0.02) more frequently than did those patients given bacitracin. Similar numbers of patients in each group had symptomatic relapse during 1 mo of follow-up, but most of them relapsed yet again after blinded crossover therapy. Although bacitracin was significantly less effective than vancomycin in clearing C. difficile from the stools, both were of similar value in the control of symptoms in a group of patients with predominantly nonpseudomembranous colitis. In view of its low cost, bacitracin is a reasonable first-line alternative to vancomycin in the treatment of antibiotic-associated colitis.

Adult↗

Enteric eradication of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium with oral bacitracin.

The emergence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) has produced a therapeutic dilemma. The colonization of the intestinal tract with VREF may predispose patients to infections by this organism and may contribute to its nosocomial spread. It is reasonable to attempt to eradicate VREF from colonized patients. The optimal regimen, however, is unknown and this study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of oral regimens of vancomycin and bacitracin for the elimination of VREF from the enteric tract. Enterococcal isolates were tested for susceptibilities to vancomycin, bacitracin, and ampicillin with median minimum inhibitory concentrations of > 512 micrograms/ml, 10 units/ml, and 128 micrograms/ml, respectively. All patients were given an initial trial of oral vancomycin 125 mg every 6 h for 10 days. Those who failed oral vancomycin were then given oral bacitracin 25,000 units every 6 h for 10 days due to its favorable in vitro activity. VREF was eradicated from the stools of 42% of patients (eight of 19) receiving oral vancomycin as compared with all eight patients receiving oral bacitracin (P < 0.01). The organism recurred in two bacitracin patients (25%) 8 and 20 days after completion of therapy. Whether prior vancomycin therapy predisposed patients to colonization by VREF was also examined. Ten (53%) of 19 patients had received prior vancomycin therapy before isolation of VREF from the stool. Our data suggest that oral bacitracin may be an effective alternative to commercially available oral vancomycin for the eradication of VREF from the enteric tract.

Administration, Oral↗

Determination of neomycin and bacitracin in human or rabbit serum by HPLC-MS/MS.

The method for the simultaneous determination of neomycin and bacitracin in human or rabbit serum was developed by using ion pairing reversed phase chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) detection with electrospray (ESI) in positive mode. Both substances elute under these conditions at the same time and also kanamycin as internal standard elutes almost at the same time. The sample preparation was simple-only using 0.1 mL serum by protein precipitation with acetonitrile. Neomycin and bacitracin were detected as two-fold charged ions as well as the internal standard. The calibration range of these quite difficult detectable substances was 0.2-50 microg/mL of serum. The method was validated for both human or rabbit serum. The inter batch precision of quality control samples in human serum for neomycin ranged from 4.46% to 8.99% and for bacitracin from 6.85% to 11.17%. The inter batch accuracy for neomycin ranged from 98.7% to 100.7% and for bacitracin from 99.2% to 103.0%. At lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) level of 0.2 microg/mL inter batch precision in human serum for neomycin was 12.05% and for bacitracin 11.91%, whereas accuracies were 99.9% for neomycin and 102.7% for bacitracin. Bench top stability in human or rabbit serum was given over three freeze thaw cycles and 4h at room temperature. The method can be considered to be specific and recoveries for sample preparation were high.

Animals↗

Rational design of bacitracin A derivatives by incorporating natural product derived heterocycles.

Heterocycles display common structural motifs in nonribosomally produced peptides with an enormous impact on their bioactivity. In the case of the branched cyclic Bacitracin A, the thiazoline moiety is manufactured during NRPS peptide chain elongation. Here we describe a method to selectively alter the heterocyclic metal binding subunit of Bacitracin A by the synthesis of heterocyclic building blocks that were successfully coupled to the linear decapeptide and subsequently cyclized using the excised bacitracin PCP-TE bidomain. Utilization of this cyclase allowed the first generation of branched cyclic bacitracin derivatives containing thiazole and oxazoles. The generated bacitracin derivatives showed bactericidal activity, indicating the possibility of altering the biological important heterocyclic subunit and overcoming existing limitations for the application of bacitracin.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Enzyme-bound intermediates in the biosynthesis of bacitracin.

1. Bacitracin synthetase, a three-component enzyme complex which catalyzes synthesis of the dodecapeptide bacitracin A, has been prepared from Bacillus licheniformis strains ATCC 10716, AL and SB 319. During synthesis of bacitracin, the amino acids (smaller amounts) and peptides are covalently bound to the enzyme complex. The nature of the bindings suggest that the amino acids and peptides are thioester linked. 2. The peptides, identified by thin-layer chromatography after performic acid liberation were Ile-Cys, Ile-Cys-Leu, Ile-Cys-Leu-Glu, Ile-Cys-Leu-Glu, Ile-Cys-Leu-Glu-Ile, Ile-Cys-Leu-Glu-Ile-Lys-Orn, Ile-Cys-Leu-Glu-Ile-Ile-Orn-Ile, Ile-Cys-L-EU-Glu-Ile-Lys-Orn-Ile-Phe, Ile-Cys-Leu-Glu-Ile-L-YS-Orn-Ile-Phe-His-Phe-His and Ile-Cys-Leu-Glu-Ile-Lys-Orn-Ile-Phe-His-Asp. 3. The labelled peptides covalently bound to bacitracin synthetase were intermediates in bacitracin synthesis. 4. Chain growth is initiated on one enzyme component (A) by the addition of isoleucine and cysteine. The sequential addition of the other amino acids proceeds in the C-terminal direction until the pentapeptide is formed. Further addition of amino acids and production of bacitracin are obtained by adding the other enzyme components (B and C) to the incubation mixture.

Amino Acids↗

On the function of the polypeptide antibiotic bacitracin in the producer strain Bacillus licheniformis.

The growth of the bacitracin producing strain Bacillus licheniformis AL and the bacitracin-negative mutant SB 319 have been compared at different cultural conditions. Concentrations of the metal chelator EDTA which strongly inhibited the growth of the non-producer only slightly inhibited the growth of the bacitracin producer. The inhibitory effect of EDTA upon SB 319 was reversed by the addition of excess manganese(II)ions, cobalt(II)ions, or zinc(II)ions to the culture. The addition of several other ions had no such effect. The addition of bacitracin to the EDTA inhibited mutant also promoted growth. When the non-producer was mutated back to bacitracin production, the inhibitory effect of EDTA was lost. It is suggested that bacitracin may normally promote the uptake of several trace metals during growth of the producer organism.

Bacillus↗

Some differences in the action of penicillin, bacitracin, and vancomycin on Bacillus megaterium.

Hancock, R. (Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.), and P. C. Fitz-James. Some differences in the action of penicillin, bacitracin, and vancomycin on Bacillus megaterium. J. Bacteriol. 87:1044-1050. 1964.-Penicillin and cycloserine do not inhibit the growth of protoplasts of Bacillus megaterium, indicating that inhibition of cell-wall synthesis is the only significant process by which they inhibit growth of bacteria. In contrast, bacitracin and vancomycin inhibit growth of protoplasts and bacteria at similar concentrations, indicating that they have important sites of action other than their known inhibition of cell-wall synthesis. At concentrations which inhibit mucopeptide synthesis, penicillin, bacitracin, and vancomycin each cause an increased rate of efflux of K ions from growing bacteria. This effect of penicillin is prevented by chloramphenicol or hypertonic sucrose, whereas the effects of bacitracin and vancomycin are unchanged under these conditions. It is concluded that bacitracin and vancomycin have direct effects on the cytoplasmic membrane, and it is proposed that their inhibition of cell-wall synthesis could be a consequence of these effects. Bacitracin and vancomycin do not compete with penicillin for binding to cells of B. megaterium, a further indication that they have a different primary site of action.

Bacillus megaterium↗

Use of bacitracin for neurotologic surgery.

Wound infection, cerebrospinal fluid leak, and meningitis are serious potential complications of neurotologic procedures that transgress the posterior cranial fossa dura. A study of 236 patients was made to determine the effect of perioperative intravenous antibiotics and topical bacitracin irrigation on the incidence of these complications. Of the 236 patients, 170 (72%) underwent translabyrinthine resection of acoustic tumors, while 66 (28%) underwent retrolabyrinthine vestibular nerve section. Patients were divided into four groups: those who received no antibiotics, those who received perioperative intravenous antibiotics only, those who received topical bacitracin irrigation only, and those who received a combination of perioperative intravenous antibiotics and topical bacitracin irrigation. There were no untoward effects of either perioperative intravenous antibiotics or topical bacitracin. The results indicate that bacitracin irrigation reduced the incidence of wound infection from 9% to 2% (p less than 0.05); of cerebrospinal fluid leak from 12% to 5% (p less than 0.04); and of all targeted complications combined from 22% to 9% (p less than 0.006). Furthermore, the topical bacitracin irrigation only group showed a statistically significant reduction in wound infections compared to the perioperative intravenous antibiotic only group (p less than 0.02). The incidence of meningitis was statistically unaffected by any of our treatment protocols.

Bacitracin↗

Effect of bacitracin on retroendocytosis and degradation of insulin in cultured kidney epithelial cell line.

In an earlier study, we described the presence of a retroendocytotic pathway for insulin in a cultured kidney epithelial cell line. Derived from the opossum kidney (OK), these cells possess many features of proximal tubule epithelium, which is the major site of kidney insulin metabolism. We studied the interaction between the retroendocytotic and the degradative pathways with bacitracin as a pharmacological probe. Monolayers of OK cells were loaded with 125I-labeled insulin over 30 min, acid washed to remove membrane-bound insulin, then incubated in fresh medium for 60 min while the release of intracellular radioactivity was monitored. In experiments carried out in the presence of bacitracin (2 mM), there was a two-thirds increase in intracellular radioactivity at the end of the loading phase. Measurements made during the subsequent release phase showed that bacitracin reduced the release of degradation products. Thus, although controls released 72.1 +/- 8.1% of the internalized radioactivity as trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-soluble products, bacitracin-treated cells released 59.2 +/- 9.4% (P less than 0.02). In contrast, release of TCA-precipitable insulin increased from 15.2 +/- 4.6% in controls to 25.8 +/- 3.7% in bacitracin-treated cells (P less than 0.01). In separate experiments analyzed by gel-exclusion chromatography, 6.4 +/- 0.6% of radioactivity released from preloaded control cells into medium over 60 min was insulin sized compared to 29.7 +/- 1.4% in bacitracin-treated cells. High-performance liquid chromatography revealed that 61.5 +/- 3.5% of this insulin-sized material released from control cells preloaded with A14-insulin eluted as intact insulin and the remainder as unidentified intermediate degradation products.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Bacitracin determination in feeds: evaluation of methods.

Assay of bacitracin activity in feeds is subject to many sources of variation. Bacitracin standards are complex mixtures and may contain various amounts of less active forms of bacitracin. Test organisms may respond differently to these mixtures. Collaborative studies should involve the use of one standard, perhaps USP zinc bacitracin. The use of different types of bacitracin standards (regular or zinc) in a laboratory may contribute to variation in sample potency. The pyridine extraction method is subject to serious operational difficulties. Among the contributing factors are incomplete evaporation of pyridine (causing positive bias), allowing the temperature to increase too much during evaporation (causing negative bias), and the numerous manipulative steps in the technique (causing large variability). Because of these factors and the toxic properties of pyridine, the method finds little use. Methanol extraction offers a better substitute for determining zinc or methylene disalicylate bacitracin in premixes and complete feeds by the plate method.

Animal Feed↗

[Antibiotic concentration in postoperative wound secretions and in serum of patients after implantation of hip endoprostheses having used neomycin-bacitracin loaded bone cement (author's transl)].

Antibiotic concentrations in postoperative wound secretions and in serum give some indication of the local and general effects of an antibiotic additive to bone cement. Ten patients received hip endoprostheses using a prepacked mixture of the bone cement Sulfix 6 with neomycin + bacitracin (Sulfix 6 A). After operation secretions from Redon drains were collected over the next 48 hours as well as venous blood over 14 days in order to measure neomycin and bacitracin levels. Neomycin was found in sera of some patients up to the eighth postoperative day, whereby concentrations did not exceed 0.75 mcg/ml. Bacitracin was not detected in any serum samples. In secretions from Redon drains neomycin as well as bacitracin reached effective levels during the first 48 hours. The results indicate that the addition of neomycin and bacitracin to the bone cement Sulfix 6 for local antibiotic prophylaxis is justified since effective antibiotic concentrations are thereby obtained in the wound without the danger of general toxicity arising when neomycin and bacitracin are administered by the usual method of topical application.

Aged↗

PROTOPLAST LYSIS AND INHIBITION OF GROWTH OF BACILLUS LICHENIFORMIS BY BACITRACIN.

Snoke, John E. (University of California, Los Angeles), and Neal Cornell. Protoplast lysis and inhibition of growth of Bacillus licheniformis by bacitracin. J. Bacteriol. 89:415-240. 1965.-The growth of Bacillus licheniformis is inhibited by bacitracin, the antibiotic which the organism itself produces. The effect of the antibiotic is confined to the early growth phase of the organism. Bacitracin will produce a rapid lysis of protoplasts of B. licheniformis and Micrococcus lysodeikticus. The lytic process requires cadmium or zinc ions, and the rate and extent of lysis depends upon the amount of bacitracin and metal ion added. Although B. licheniformis and M. lysodeikticus differ markedly in their sensitivity to bacitracin, the protoplasts from these two organisms are equally susceptible to lysis by the antibiotic.

Bacillus↗

THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FOR BACITRACIN.

The National Institute for Medical Research, London, was requested by the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization to establish a second International Standard for Bacitracin since stocks of the first International Standard were running low. A batch of 500 g of zinc bacitracin was obtained in 1962 and was distributed into ampoules in 100-mg amounts and dried in vacuum; the ampoules were then filled with dry nitrogen and sealed. This proposed replacement material has been assayed biologically in terms of the first International Standard in seven laboratories in five countries by means of plate diffusion assays.In spite of a large difference in purity between the first and proposed second standards, the variation in the potencies obtained for the proposed second standard were small, although significant. This material has been established as the second International Standard for Bacitracin with a defined potency of 74 mg. The International Unit of Bacitracin is defined as the activity of 0.01351 mg of the second International Standard for Bacitracin.

Bacitracin↗

Analysis of Bacitracin B using fast atom bombardment and tandem mass spectrometry.

Bacitracin is a mixture of polypeptide antibiotics produced by the action of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis. The mixture has previously been shown to contain at least ten components, of which only the major component, Bacitracin A, and its oxidized counterpart, Bacitracin F, have been fully structurally evaluated. Using fast atom bombardment ionization with tandem mass spectrometry, three isobaric components of one of the minor constituents of the mixture, Bacitracin B, have been structurally characterized, delineating the three single substitution sites within Bacitracin A where Ile has been replaced by Val.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Sequencing of bacitracin A and related minor components by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization ion trap tandem mass spectrometry.

A selective reversed-phase liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS(n)) method is described for the characterization of related compounds in commercial bacitracin samples. Mass spectral data for these polypeptide antibiotics were acquired on a LCQ ion trap mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization probe operated in the positive and negative ion mode. The LCQ ion trap is ideally suited for the sequencing of those linear side-chain cyclized peptides because it provides on-line LC/MS(n) capability. Using this method bacitracin A, 1-epibacitracin A, bacitracins B(1), B(2), B(3) and bacitracin F were sequenced and previous sequencing was confirmed. Bacitracins C(1), C(2), C(3), D, H(2) and H(3) were resolved chromatographically and their ring portion was sequenced for the first time. Four components not described in the literature (1-epibacitracin B(1), 1-epibacitracin B(2), 1-epibacitracin C(1) and H(4)) were sequenced completely for the first time. The main advantage of this hyphenated LC/MS(n) technique is the characterization of the related substances without time-consuming isolation and purification procedures.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Enzyme destruction by a protease contaminant in bacitracin.

Bacitracin, as purchased from biochemical supply companies, is a mixture of more than 30 different substances. The major antibiotic isoforms A and B account for about 60% of the mixture. A newly identified impurity in some, but not all, of the bacitracin lots is a powerful subtilisin-type protease capable of cleaving many proteins including protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), myosin, and a variety of artificial substrates Thus, it is important for investigators who use bacitracin as a protease or other enzyme inhibitor to determine if the bacitracin they are using is contaminated with a protease enzyme. If it is present, they may have to reinterpret their results and retest with an enzyme-free bacitracin reagent.

Bacitracin↗

X-Ray structure of the antibiotic bacitracin A.

Bacitracins are a group of widely used peptide antibiotics. There has been interest in determining the three-dimensional structure of the bacitracins. However, solution studies indicate significant flexibility in their structure and to date native bacitracins have resisted attempts at crystallisation despite considerable efforts over a number of years by several groups. Here we report the first three-dimensional X-ray structure of a bacitracin, complexed to a subtilisin proteinase. X-Ray diffraction data were collected using synchrotron radiation in combination with the Image Plate Scanner system. The complex structure including two enzymes, two bacitracins, 220 water molecules and two Ca2+ ions was refined by restrained least-squares to a crystallographic R factor ( = sigma [[Fo-Fc]]/sigma [Fo]]) of 16.3% at 2.0 A.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

YtsCD and YwoA, two independent systems that confer bacitracin resistance to Bacillus subtilis.

The Bacillus subtilis yts, yxd and yvc gene clusters encode a putative ABC transporter and a functionally coupled two-component system. When tested for their sensitivity towards a series of antibiotics, null yts mutants were found to be sensitive to bacitracin. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) experiments demonstrated that the presence of bacitracin in the growth medium strongly stimulates the expression of the ytsCD genes encoding the ABC transporter and that this stimulation strictly depends on the YtsA response regulator. The ywoA gene encodes a protein known to confer some resistance to bacitracin on the bacterium. When it was mutated in a null yts background, the ywoA yts double mutant was found to be five times more sensitive than the yts one. We propose that (i) the YtsCD ABC transporter exports the bacitracin; (ii) YwoA, the protein that contains an acidPPc (PAP2 or PgpB) domain, is not part of an ABC transporter but competes with bacitracin for the dephosphorylation of the C55-isoprenyl pyrophosphate (IPP); (iii) the two resistance mechanisms are independent and complementary.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗