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Reversal of the Antibacterial Activity of Polymyxin by Divalent Cations

Abstract

THE antibiotic polymyxin has been used with some success in the treatment of Pseudomonas æruginosa infections of burns1. Previous studies have shown that the addition of polymyxin to washed suspensions of this organism caused a release of pentose, phosphate and materials which had an absorption maxima at 260 mµ2,3. The leakage was a maximum in the presence of concentrations of polymyxin which killed 99 per cent of the cells, higher concentrations inhibiting the leakage.

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References

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NEWTON, B. Reversal of the Antibacterial Activity of Polymyxin by Divalent Cations. Nature 172, 160–161 (1953). https://doi.org/10.1038/172160a0

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