The enterococcal surface protein, Esp, originally found in Enterococcus faecalis, has been associated with increased virulence, colonization, and biofilm formation (2, 3, 5, 6). Recently, a variant esp gene was found in Enterococcus faecium isolates from humans (L. Baldassarri, L. Burtuccini, M. G. Ammendolia, G. Gherardi, and R. Creti, Letter, Lancet 357:1802, 2001; R. J. Willems, W. Homan, J....

INTRODUCTION The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of four intracanal medicaments on Enterococcus Faecalis (E. Faecalis). METHODS AND MATERIALS Fifty extracted single-rooted human teeth were prepared with standard method. After contaminating the canals with E. Faecalis, the samples were divided into one control and four experimental groups (n=10). The teeth...

The MICs and MBCs of CI-934, ciprofloxacin, difloxacin (A-56619), A-56620, norfloxacin, enoxacin, amifloxacin, and coumermycin were determined for 43 clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecalis known to be resistant to penicillin-aminoglycoside synergy. Results were compared with those obtained for 37 synergy-susceptible E. faecalis and 22 Enterococcus faecium strains. Although no substantial di...

We have cloned the DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV genes of Enterococcus faecalis to examine the actions of quinolones against E. faecalis genetically and enzymatically. We first generated levofloxacin-resistant mutants of E. faecalis by stepwise selection with increasing drug concentrations and analyzed the quinolone resistance-determining regions of gyrA and parC from the resistant mutants. I...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the inhibition of Enterococcus faecalis by calcium peroxide (CaO₂). METHODS The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of Enterococcus faecalis by CaO₂ and calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂) were determined by direct exposure tests (n = 10). The inhibition zone of E. faecalis mycoderm treated with CaO₂ and Ca(OH)₂ paste (53% w/w) ...

Subgingival plaque samples and root canal samples were collected from 2,839 marginal periodontitis (MP) patients and 21 apical periodontitis (AP) patients. Enterococcus species were identified by a series of phenotypic and genotypic tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility assays were performed by an agar disk diffusion test. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST), eBURST, and minimum spanning tree were ...

Exposure to antibiotics is considered to be the major driver in the selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and may induce diverse biological responses in bacteria. MTAD is a common intracanal irrigant, but its bactericidal activity remains to be improved. Previous studies have indicated that the antimicrobial peptide nisin can significantly improve the bactericidal activity of MTAD against ...

Enterococcus faecalis is a significant human pathogen worldwide and is responsible for severe nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Although enterococcal meningitis is rare, mortality is considerable, reaching 21 %. Nevertheless, the pathogenetic mechanisms of this infection remain poorly understood, even though the ability of E. faecalis to avoid or survive phagocytic attack in vivo ma...

The heptapeptide ARHPHPH was identified from biofilms and planktonic cultures of two different strains of Enterococcus faecalis, V583 and ATCC 29212, using matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). ARHPHPH was also imaged at the boundary of cocultured, adjacent E. faecalis and Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) biofilms, appearing only on the E. faecalis side. ARHPHPH...

Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is an important cytokine for the immunomodulatory effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Using murine immune cells, we previously reported that the RNA of Enterococcus faecalis EC-12, a LAB strain exerting probiotic-like beneficial effects, is the major IL-12-inducing immunogenic component. However, it was recently revealed that bacterial RNA can be a ligand for Toll-like...