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Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Subcutaneous Infection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus MRSA
Published on: February 9, 2011
Cinnamonitrile Adjuvants Restore Susceptibility to β-Lactams against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Enrico Speri1, Choon Kim1, Stefania De Benedetti1
1Department Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, United States.
Abstract:
β-Lactams are used routinely to treat Staphylococcus aureus infections. However, the emergence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) renders them clinically precarious. We describe a class of cinnamonitrile adjuvants that restore the activity of oxacillin (a penicillin member of the β-lactams) against MRSA. The lead adjuvants were tested against six important strains of MRSA, one vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) strain, and one linezolid-resistant S. aureus strain. Five compounds out of 84 total compounds showed broad potentiation. At 8 μM (E)-3-(5-(3,4-dichlorobenzyl)-2-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl)-2-(methylsulfonyl)acrylonitrile (26) potentiated oxacillin with a >4000-fold reduction of its MIC (from 256 to 0.06 mg·L-1). This class of adjuvants holds promise for reversal of the resistance phenotype of MRSA.
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