Biol. Pharm. Bull., 28(6),1120-1122, June 2005

Notes

Antibacterial Activity of Dipropofol and Related Compounds

Masahiro OGATA,^*,a,c Kanae TUTUMIMOTO SATO,^b Takao KUNIKANE,^a Kentaro OKA,^a Masako SEKI,^a Shiro URANO,^c Keiichi HIRAMATSU,^b and Toyoshige ENDO^a

^a Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy; 1-5-30 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8512, Japan: ^b Juntendo University; 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan: and ^c Shibaura Institute of Technology; 3-9-14 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8548, Japan. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: ogata-ms@aomori-u.ac.jp

Phenolic compounds, in general, exhibit antioxidant and antibacterial activities. We studied antimicrobial activity of the phenolic antioxidants, propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol), tocopherol, eugenol, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and several of their dimer compounds. Dipropofol (dimer of 2,6-diisopropylphenol) showed strong antibacterial activity against gram-positive strains including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin resistant Enterococci (VRE), while propofol and other monomeric and dimeric phenols having methyl or tert-butyl groups showed no remarkable activity. The results indicated that the dimeric structure of 2,6-diisopropylphenol moiety may play an important role in the antibacterial activity.

Key words Key words dipropofol; antimicrobial activity; vancomycin resistant Enterococci (VRE); antioxidant; methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)