The effect of reserpine, a modulator of multidrug efflux pumps, on the in vitro activity of tetracycline against clinical isolates of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) possessing the tet(K) determinant

Simon Gibbons, E. E. Udo

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    197 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    As part of a screening programme to identify modulators of multidrug efflux in methicillin resistant Staphyloccocus aureus (MRSA), we have validated our assays using the antihypertensive plant alkaloid reserpine. Clinical isolates of MRSA were resistant to tetracycline and shown to possess the tet(K) determinant which encodes for the Tet(K) efflux protein, which conferred high level resistance to tetracycline (MIC = 128 μg/mL). In the presence of reserpine, a known inhibitor of multidrug resistance (mdr) efflux pumps, this MIC was significantly reduced (MIC = 32 μg/mL). Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)139-140
    Number of pages2
    JournalPhytotherapy Research
    Volume14
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar 2000

    Keywords

    • Efflux
    • Mdr
    • MRSA
    • Multidrug resistance
    • Tet(K)

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