The inhibition effect of Chlorpromazine against the β-lactam resistance of MRSA

Ryong Kong; Ok-Hwa Kang; Yun-Soo Seo; Su-Hyun Mun; Tian Zhou; Dong-Won Shin; Dong-Yeul Kwon

doi:10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.04.008

The inhibition effect of Chlorpromazine against the β-lactam resistance of MRSA

Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2016 Jun;9(6):542-6. doi: 10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.04.008. Epub 2016 Apr 16.

Authors

Ryong Kong¹, Ok-Hwa Kang², Yun-Soo Seo², Su-Hyun Mun¹, Tian Zhou², Dong-Won Shin³, Dong-Yeul Kwon⁴

Affiliations

¹ BK21 Plus Team, Professional Graduate School of Oriental Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Jeonbuk 570-749, South Korea.
² Department of Oriental Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Wonkwang Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Institute of Biotechnology, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Jeonbuk 570-749, South Korea.
³ Department of Oriental Medicine Resources, College of Bio Industry Science, Sunchon National University, Sunchon, Jeonnam 540-742, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Oriental Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Wonkwang Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Institute of Biotechnology, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Jeonbuk 570-749, South Korea. Electronic address: sssimi@wku.ac.kr.

PMID: 27262064
DOI: 10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.04.008

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the gene related to β-lactam resistance and to confirm the mechanism about a synergy effect between CPZ and β-lactam antibiotics.

Methods: To measure antibacterial activity, we performed a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and synergy test. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used in morphological analysis. To analyze gene expression, we conducted reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Results: We confirmed a synergy effect between CPZ and β-lactam antibiotics. Furthermore, we observed that CPZ affect the cell envelope of MRSA by using TEM. At the gene level, CPZ reduced the expression of resistance genes.

Conclusions: Through this result, we hypothesize that a decrease of resistance factor expressions was caused by CPZ because it disrupts the activity of a sensor protein located in the cell membrane.

Keywords: Chlorpromazine; MRSA; PBP2a; blaZ; mecA; β-Lactamase.