The antimicrobial activity of Daehwanggo against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Objectives : Infectious diseases by Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a growing problem worldwide. Characteristic of MRSA is endlessly mutation to resist antibiotics. Daehwanggo (DHG) is one of the oriental medicine prescriptions contained in Principles and Practice of Eastern Medicine. Daehwanggo was mainly used for external preparation from old times. The purpose of this study is to confirm possibility as supplementary drug of DHG about antibiotics through observation of synergy effect between DHG and commercial antibiotics and to observe restriction on growth of MRSA on any pathway through observation of mechanism. Methods : The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of DHG against MRSA is $500{\sim}2000{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ by broth dilution method. In the checkerboard method, the combinations of DHG with antibiotics has partial synergistic effect or synergy effect and DHG markedly reduced the MICs of the antibiotics oxacillin (OX), gentamicin (GT) against MRSA. In the inhibition of resistance mechanism of DHG against MRSA, the expression of resistance gene and protein about ${\beta}-lactam$ antibiotic was reduced. Also, we observed the effect of DHG about cell membrane permeability against MRSA, and confirmed that DHG suppressed growth of strains by increasing cell membrane permeability. Results : Basis on the result, we speculate that DHG increase antibacterial activity of antibiotics against MRSA by changing the structure of cell wall of MRSA. Conclusions : These data suggest that Daehwanggo possesses possibility as supplementary drug about antibiotics against MRSA.

대황고(大黃膏)의 메티실린 내성 황색 포도상구균에 대한 항균활성