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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, May 2001, p. 1417-1421, Vol. 45, No. 5
0066-4804/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AAC.45.5.1417-1421.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Activities of Bismuth Thiols against Staphylococci and Staphylococcal Biofilms

Philip Domenico,1,* Lucilla Baldassarri,2 Paul E. Schoch,1 Kristina Kaehler,3 Masanori Sasatsu,4 and Burke A. Cunha1

Winthrop-University Hospital, Mineola, and State University of New York School of Medicine, Stony Brook, New York1; Istituto Superiore de Sanitá, Rome, Italy2; SurModics Inc., Eden Prairie, Minnesota3; and Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan4

Received 29 September 2000/Returned for modification 30 November 2000/Accepted 13 February 2001

Indwelling medical devices are associated with infectious complications. Incorporating antimicrobials into indwelling materials may reduce bacterial colonization. Bismuth thiols are antibiofilm agents with up to 1,000-fold-greater antibacterial activity than other bismuth salts. Staphylococci are particularly sensitive, as determined by agar diffusion and broth dilution susceptibility testing. Bismuth-ethanedithiol inhibited 10 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis strains at 0.9 to 1.8, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 at 2.4, and S. epidermidis ATCC 12228 at 0.1 µM Bi3+. Antiseptic-resistant S. aureus was sensitive to bismuth-2-3-dimercaptopropanol (BisBAL) at <= 7 µM Bi3+. Hydrogel-coated polyurethane rods soaked in BisBAL inhibited S. epidermidis for 39 days (inhibitory zone diameter in agar, >= 30 mm for >25 days). Slime from 16 slime-producing S. epidermidis strains was inhibited significantly by bismuth-3,4-dimercaptotoluene (BisTOL), but not by AgNO3, at subinhibitory concentrations. In conclusion, bismuth-thiols are bacteriostatic and bactericidal against staphylococci, including resistant organisms, but are also inhibitors of slime at subinhibitory concentrations. At subinhibitory concentrations, BisTOL may be useful in preventing the colonization and infection of indwelling intravascular lines, since staphylococci are important pathogens in this setting.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Winthrop-University Hospital, 259 First St., Mineola, NY 11501. Phone: (516) 663-2654. Fax: (516) 663-3886. E-mail: domenico{at}winthrop.org.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, May 2001, p. 1417-1421, Vol. 45, No. 5
0066-4804/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AAC.45.5.1417-1421.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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