THE IN VITRO BACTERIOSTATIC ACTION OF SOME SIMPLE FURAN DERIVATIVES

¹ From the Research Laboratories of the Norwich Pharmacal Company, Norwich, New York

A survey of the in vitro bacteriostatic action of forty-two furan compounds, including derivatives of furan, 2-furaldehyde, 2-furfuryl alcohol and 2-furoic acid has been presented. It disclosed that with a few exceptions, the presence of a nitro group in the 5-position of the furan ring conferred considerable bacteriostatic action on such derivatives. Twenty-five compounds of this type were tested and twenty-four showed bacteriostatic activity in varying degrees. The single ineffective compound was tested as a saturated solution in broth which contained less than 1.5 mgm. %. The specificity of this group in activating these simple furan compounds was indicated by a comparison of seventeen nitrofuran compounds with their non-nitrated analogues. Fourteen of the latter, entirely inactive under the test conditions were bacteriostatic when a nitro group was introduced into the 5-position, while the action of three slightly active derivatives was considerably enhanced by the same process. The action of the nitro group was least effective with nitrofuroic acid. The bacteriostatic action of the nitrofuran compounds was effective against both Gram positive and Gram negative organisms, being least active in inhibiting the growth of Ps. pyocyanea. An examination of the antibacterial action of several of the nitrofuran compounds by subculture and plate count methods showed them to be slowly bactericidal in high concentrations, while lower concentrations were merely bacteriostatic for twenty-four hours or longer. Both of these activities were decreased, and in some cases, completely abolished when large inocula were employed. The enhancement of antibacterial action when tested in a synthetic medium suggested the existence of specific substances in broth capable of inhibiting both the bacteriostatic and bactericidal action of the nitrofuran complex.

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