Reactive oxygen species are partially involved in the bacteriocidal action of hypochlorous acid

Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is probably the most widely used disinfectant worldwide and has an important role in inflammatory reaction and in human resistance to infection. However, the nature and mechanisms of its bactericidal activity are still poorly understood. Bacteria challenged aerobically with HOCl concentrations ranging from 9.5 to 76 microM exhibit higher ability to form colonies anaerobically than aerobically. Conversely, aerobic plating greatly increased lethality after an anaerobic HOCl challenge, although anaerobic survival did not depend on whether HOCl exposure was aerobic or anaerobic. Even a short transient exposure to air after anaerobic HOCl challenge reduced anaerobic survival, indicative of immediate deleterious effects of oxygen. Exposure to HOCl can cause lethal DNA damage as judged by the fact that recA sensitivity to HOCl was oxygen dependent. Antioxidant defenses such as reduced glutathione and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase were depleted or inactivated at 10 microM HOCl, while other activities, such as superoxide dismutase, dropped only above 57 microM HOCl. Cumulative deficiencies in superoxide dismutase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase rendered strains hypersensitive to HOCl. This indicates that part of HOCl toxicity on Escherichia coli is mediated by reactive oxygen species during recovery.