• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.730-739
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• 2022

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) causes severe infections and poses a global healthcare challenge. The utilization of novel molecules which confer synergistical effects to existing MRSA-directed antibiotics is one of the well-accepted strategies in lieu of de novo development of new antibiotics. Thymol is a key component of the essential oil of plants in the Thymus and Origanum genera. Despite the absence of antimicrobial potency, thymol is known to inhibit MRSA biofilm formation. However, the anti-MRSA activity of thymol analogs is not well characterized. Here, we assessed the antimicrobial activity of several thymol derivatives and found that 4-chloro-2-isopropyl-5-methylphenol (chlorothymol) has antimicrobial activity against MRSA and in addition it also prevents biofilm formation. Chlorothymol inhibited staphyloxanthin production, slowed MRSA motility, and altered bacterial cell density and size. This compound also showed a synergistic antimicrobial activity with oxacillin against highly resistant S. aureus clinical isolates and biofilms associated with these isolates. Our results demonstrate that chlorinated thymol derivatives should be considered as a new lead compound in anti-MRSA therapeutics.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.276-282
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• 1998

Staphylococcal pneumonia caused by staphylococcus aureus can be characterized by its severity and rapid progress as a bacterial infection. The disease shows a high mortality in younger patients, especially in infants unless early and appropriate treatment is carried out. Treatment can be made of medical method alone but in cases of surgical interventions are needed, immediate surgical methods such as closed or open drainage of pleural fluid, lobectomy and decortication should be followed with combination of medical therapy. The choice of antibiotic should be made by proper antibiotic sensitivities tests. For a methicillin sensitive S. areus(MSSA), the penicillase resistant penicillin would be the first choice and for a methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA), the glycopeptides such as vancomycin would be the first one. Other drugs can also be used if the bacterial agents show any sensitivities to these drugs. Commonly, the chest roentgenographic findings reveal infiltrations, empyema, pneumothorax, pleural effusion, atelectasis or pneumatoceles in staphylococcal pneumonia and this fact easily can lead the physicians to its diagnosis as soon as possible. We experienced 5 cases of staphylococcal pneumonia in infants, proven by through bacterial cultures and report them with brief review of the related literatures.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.177-184
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• 2009

Three hundred lactic acid bacteria isolated from human feces were studied their probiotic characters to develop potential probiotics. The properties were tested on the basis of guideline for probiotic selection protocol such as tolerance for acid or bile salt, thermal stability, antimicrobial, anticancer cell, and antiviral activity. Strain Miny-148 was selected as a potential probiotic bacterium which showed resistance to low pH, bile salts and thermal stability. On the basis of fatty acid profiles and 16S rDNA sequences analysis, the strain was identified as Lactobacillus pentosus (similarity 99.9%). The strain, L. pentosus Miny-148, showed broad antimicrobial spectrum against E. coli O157:H7, Shigella flexneri, Bacillus anthracis, Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Vibrio cholerae, V. vulnificus, Salmonella typhimurium, and Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Cell-free culture supernatant of the strain also inhibited against the growth of HT-29 colon cancer cell and transmissible gastroenterits virus.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.12-12
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• 1997

CFC-222 is a novel fluoroqinolone antibacterial agent synthesized and under development by the Cheil Jedang Corporation, Korea. CFC-222 exerts the antibacterial activity by inhibition of bacterial DNA gyrase leading to bactericidal action. In in vitro and in vivo preclinical testing, CFC-222 has been shown to possess a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity. In particular CFC-222 is very potent against Gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus spp., Streptocuccus spp. (in particular penicillin G-resistant and -susceptible S. pneumoniae) and Enterococcus spp. when compared to other quinolones (ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin or lomefloxacin). CFC-222 also showed potent activity against the methicillin resistant clinical isolates of S. aureus (MRSA). Against Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli, Pseudomonas and Sarcina) the activity of CFC-222 was slightly weaker than that of ciprofloxacin, but was more potent than that of ofloxacin or lomefloxacin. In urinary systemic infections caused by both Gram-positive and -negative bacteria, CFC-222 demonstrated a potent therapeutic efficacy in particular against Cram-positive bacteria S. aureus, S. pyrogen 203 and S. pneumonia TypeIII.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.143-153
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• 2011

Purpose : It is known that carriage rates of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are highest in newborns and that the asymptomatic carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is associated with invasive MRSA infection with the colonizing strain. This study was carried out to investigate the carriage rates of MRSA in neonates with neonatal jaundice. Methods : We reviewed the medical records of 545 neonates admitted with neonatal jaundice to neonatal intensive care units between January 2006 and December 2010. Nasal and inguinal swab specimens had been taken from them and cultured for the isolation of S. aureus. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests had been done for such isolates to determine methicillinresistance. Results : Out of 545 neonates, 318 (58.3%) were colonized with S. aureus and 214 (39.3%) were colonized with MRSA. Results of the antibiogram analysis showed that 65.7% of MRSA isolates were likely to be community-associated (CA) MRSA. Conclusion : Based on the MRSA carriage rate of 39.3%, a surveillance program for MRSA colonization is considered necessary in neonates transferred from other clinics or hospitals. Out of MRSA isolates, 65.7% were likely to be CA-MRSA. This suggests that CA-MRSA strains were already present in obstetric clinic environments where the neonates were born. It is thought that MRSA surveillance programs in these environments are also necessary.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.456-464
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• 2005

Antimicrobial drug-resistance is natural response to antimicrobial stress based on selection, which weakens chemotherapy effect. Introduction of large numbers of chemotherapeutic agents to clinical practice has generated strains of microorganisms that survive and multiply in vivo with high-drug concentrations. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), bacteria found in normal daily life, can be easily ingested through milk vegetables, and meats, etc. MRSA emerged in many port of the world, increasing complex clinical problems. Therefore, new agents are needed to treat MRSA. Glycyrrhiza uralensis was extracted using 80% MeOH to investigate its antimicrobial activity against MRSA stains KCCM 11812, 40510, and 40512 through bacterial measurement, disc diffusion, and O.D. methods, MIC values, MRSA gene expression investigation, and scanning electron microscope observation. Results revealed MecA, Mecl, MecRI, and FemA were the most highly manifested MRSA genes. Methanolic extract of G. uralensis significantly inhibited MRSA and thus could be used in development of antibacteria.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.131-136
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• 1995

Clinically isolated bacterial strains resistant to almost of all the clinically superior .betha.-lactam antibiotics can be used to screen the promising ones among the newly synthesized $\beta$-lactam antibiotics. To select the resistant strains, the susceptibility of 389 strains of S. aureus, 144 strains of coagulase negative staphylococci, 509 strains of E. coli, 115 strains of E. cloacae and 187 strains of P. aeruginosa to methicillin, ampicillin, piperacillin and gentamicin was determined. The susceptibility of 19 bacterial strains selected through the first screening to cefixime, cefotiam, cefotaxime, flomoxef, cepfirome, cefdnir, SCE-2787, panipenem and imipenem was determined. Four strains of S. aureus finally selected have high degree of resistance to almost of all $\beta$-lactam antibiotics used and also produce $\beta$-lactamases. These 4 strains of S. aurues can be used to screen effectively the promising $\beta$-lactam antibiotics among the numerous numbers of the newly synthesized $\beta$-lactam antibiotics.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.207-214
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• 2005

To characterize the genotypic traits of clinical methicillin-resistant Staphyiococus aureus (MRSA) isolates (n=49), major virulence-associated genes were detected by using PCR-based methods. All the MRSA isolates possessed coagulase gene and showed four polymorphism types [500bp ($6{\%}$),580bp ($27{\%}$), 660bp ($65{\%}$) and 740bp ($2{\%}$)] due to variable numbers of tandem repeats present within the gene. The four or five different loci of hemolysin gene family were dominant in the MRSA isolates,25 of which($51{\%}$) possessed a combination of hla / hlb / hld/ hlg / hlg-2 genes as the most prevalent type. The prevalence of enterotoxin genes was varied among the MRSA isolates. sea and seb genes were detected from all the MRSA isolates. But sei, tsst-1, seg, sec, and seh genes were detected from 31 ($63{\%}$), 16 ($33{\%}$), 14 ($29{\%}$), 8 ($16{\%}$), and 5 ($10{\%}$) isolates, respectively. sed and sej genes were detected from 1 ($2{\%}$) isolate, respectively. see, eta, and etb genes were not detected at all. sea / seb genes were co-detected from 11 ($23{\%}$) isolates, sea / seb / sei genes from 9 ($19{\%}$) isolates, and sea / seb / seg / sei / tsst-1 genes from 5 ($10{\%}$) isolates. Other genes were co-detected with below $10{\%}$ frequencies.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.391-399
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• 2011

Free fatty acids (FFAs) are known to have bacteriocidal activity and are important components of the innate immune system. Many FFAs are naturally present in human and animal skin, breast milk, and in the bloodstream. Here, the therapeutic potential of FFAs against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is demonstrated in cultures and in mice. Among a series of FFAs, only oleic acid (OA) (C18:1, cis-9) can effectively eliminate Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) through cell wall disruption. Lauric acid (LA, C12:0) and palmitic acid (PA, C16:0) do not have this ability. OA can inhibit growth of a number of Gram-positive bacteria, including hospital and community-associated MRSA at a dose that did not show any toxicity to human sebocytes. The bacteriocidal activities of FFAs were also demonstrated in vivo through injection of OA into mouse skin lesions previously infected with a strain of MRSA. In conclusion, our results suggest a promising therapeutic approach against MRSA through boosting the bacteriocidal activities of native FFAs, which may have been co-evolved during the interactions between microbes and their hosts.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.340-346
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• 1998

The strain YSK-681 has been selected for antibiotic-producing strain against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) form 1,000 strains of actinomycetes which had been isolated from soil. The strain YSK-681 has been identified on the point of morphological, cultural, physiological and chemical characteristics. Forty-one taxonomic unit characters were tested and the data were analysed numerically using the TAXON program. The isolate was classified into the major cluster 29 of Streptomyces and best-matched to Streptomyces lydicus. Therefore, it was concluded that the isolate was identified to be Streptomyces lydicus.