Comparative Action of Bromine and Iodine on Toxic Enzymes of Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes.

It is well known that iodine is widely used as a disinfectant for small wounds. The aim of the present work was to find out whether bromine can replace iodine for this purpose. Experiments carried out by Babcock (1945) on man and by the author on rabbits in vivo (to be published shortly) showed that treatment of wounds with elementary bromine had a marked therapeutic effect. Toxicity tests comparing the action of bromine and iodine on leucocytes and living embryos, the results of which will be published shortly, have shown further that bromine is a good disinfectant in vivo, and that it is even more effective than iodine in these conditions. In order to understand these results better it was decided to investigate the effect of these two halogens on a number of bacterial toxic enzymes, viz., hemolysins, fibrinolysins, coagulase, and spreading factor. Tests of these agents were held to be of interest because it seemed possible that the inhibition of their action by antiseptics is connected with the activity of the latter when applied in vivo. Destruction of the enzymes would prevent the microorganisms from damaging the attacked body.