[Potentiation of the action of antibiotics by ultrasound]. / Usilenie deistviia antibiotikov ul'trazvukom.

The aim of the study was to investigate the action of ultrasound on antimicrobial drugs and to estimate the effect of antibacterial drugs and ultrasound used in combination and alone. In the first series of the experiments it was shown that under the action of ultrasound such antibiotics as benzylpenicillin, streptomycin, ampicillin, lincomycin, monomycin, rifampicin and gentamicin, and antiseptic drugs such as furacin, rivanol and iodinol did not change their antibacterial (bacteriostatic and bactericidal) properties with regard to Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In the second series of the experiments it was shown that ultrasound potentiated by 1.7-10.8 times the antibacterial effect of the drugs. Probably, ultrasound promoted closer contacts of the drugs with the microbial cell. In the third series of the experiments it was shown that ultrasound lowered to 24.1 per cent the count of the bacterial cells capable of multiplication, while ampicillin lowered their count to 52.6 per cent. When the antibiotic and ultrasound were used in combination the count of the bacterial cells capable of multiplication was lowered to 5.2 per cent. Therefore, the combined use of the antibacterial drug and ultrasound resulted in a 4.48-fold increase of the total effect.