چكيده لاتين :
The development of resistance to antimicrobial agents is a major problem in chemotherapy.
Finding agents which potentiate antimicrobial activity could be favorable. There are some reports that
methylxanthines changed the inhibitory effect of antibacterial agents. Thus, possible synergistic effect of
methylxanthines, aminophylline and caffeine on some antibiotics, carbenicillin, ceftizoxime and gentamicin,
which are effective on P. aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, were studied. Method: The interaction of
methylxanthines and antibiotics were studied in vitro using a clleckerboard method. Results: At
concentrations of 0.25-4 mg/ml, aminophylline and caffeine decreased the MIC of the antibiotics 2-4 times
against P. aeruginosa and Staph. aureus. Both methylxanthines also reduced the minimum bactericidal
concentration of the antibiotics by up to 2 times. Caffeine and aminophylline had no antimicrobial effect
themselves. Conclusion: The results of the present study reveal that aminophylline and caffeine potentiated
the antimicrobial action of carbenicillin, ceftizoxime and gentamicin against Staph. aureus and P. aeruginosa.
Iran. Biomed. J. 10 (3): 163-167, 2006
