Molecular Pharmacology, Vol 3, 204-215, Copyright © 1967 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Inhibition of Carbonic Anhydrase in Neisseria: Effects on Enzyme Activity and Growth

¹ Departments of Medicine, Microbiology, and Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida 32601

The presence of carbonic anhydrase in strains of Neisseria has been detected and quantified. Each of ten sulfonamide carbonic anhydrase inhibitors tested antagonized activity of bacterial carbonic anhydrase. Nine of these inhibited growth of carbonic anhydrase-producing strains of Neisseria. The more active drugs inhibited growth in concentrations as low as 0.005 µg/ml. Organisms lacking carbonic anhydrase were unaffected. Carbon dioxide markedly limited the antibacterial activity of these drugs. p-Aminobenzoate had no effect on their activity. It is concluded that bicarbonate is a growth requirement for strains of Neisseria that contain carbonic anhydrase, and that the mechanism of antibacterial activity of these drugs is reduction in the rate of bicarbonate formation.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to Miss Christine Wiley, Mrs. Aija Gotti, Miss Sandra MacKay, and Miss Linda Joslyn for technical assistance. This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health Research Grants NBO1297 and A106514-01.