[The bactericidal effects of an amphoteric surfactant with ethanol against Mycobacterium tuberculosis]

Bactericidal activities of an amphoteric surfactant (12 w/v% Alkyl diaminoethylglycine hydrochloride, 3 w/v% Alkyl dietylenetriaminoglycole hydrochloride, Nissan Anon #300, Inui Shouji Co., ADG) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis were examined independently or in cooperation with ethanol. The results obtained in the study are as follows: 1. In the treatment with the surfactant diluted with distilled water in one hundredth, the numbers of tubercle bacilli which survived were 500 cfu/0.1 ml after one minute-treatment, and 25 cfu/0.1 ml after ten minutes-treatment. On the other hand, the surfactant containing 23 v/v% ethanol decreased the bacterial numbers to seven cfu/0.1 ml after one minute and less than one cfu/0.1 ml after ten minutes. The numbers of the survived bacilli treated with the surfactant containing 20 v/v% ethanol were 500 cfu/0.1 ml after one minute-treatment, and less than one cfu/0.1 ml after ten minutes though 20 v/v% ethanol alone was ineffective in ten minutes-treatment. 2. The bactericidal activities of the surfactant against tubercle bacilli in sputum samples in which 1.65 x 10(4) cfu/0.1 ml of the organism were contained were also investigated. The numbers of tubercle bacilli which survived were 25 cfu/0.1 ml after one minute-treatment with the surfactant in one fiftieth, two cfu/0.1 ml after five minutes-treatment and one cfu/0.1 ml after ten minutes-treatment. The numbers of the organism treated with the surfactant containing 23 v/v% ethanol were less than one cfu/0.1 ml after five minutes. 3.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)