The effect of chlorhexidine on the electrophoretic mobility, cytoplasmic constituents, dehydrogenase activity and cell walls of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract Chlorhexidine does not cause lysis of isolated cell walls, nor does it prevent the synthesis of the mucopeptide component of the cell wall. Low concentrations of the drug stimulate dehydrogenase activity but higher concentrations inhibit the activity. Chlorhexidine reacts with and precipitates proteinaceous and pentose-containing components of a solution of cell-free cytoplasmic constituents in concentrations greater than those causing their maximum leakage. The effect of chlorhexidine concentration on the electrophoretic mobility of bacterial cells is consistent with the hypothesis that the drug accumulates in aggregates at the cell surface rather than in the form of a monolayer or multilayers of drug.