ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF OXYGEN-ACTIVE DISINFECTANTS

Oxygen-active disinfectants are widely used for nonspecific prevention of infectious diseases: hydrogen peroxide, chlorine dioxide, potassium fluoride peroxohydrate, perborates, persulfates, perphosphates, percarbonates. These compounds have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against bacteria (including Mycobacterium tuberculosis), viruses, fungi and spores of bacilli. The primary "target" of exposure to oxygen-containing disinfectants in bacterial cells are proteins and lipids of cytoplasmic membranes, and in bacterial spores - proteins and lipids of spore membranes. When exposed to hydrogen peroxide on a bacterial cell at the stage of contact with the cytoplasmic membrane, hydrogen peroxide decomposes into highly reactive hydroxyl radicals, which have a destructive effect on the membranes. Hydroxyl radicals are powerful oxidizing agents, have a short period of existence, interact with lipids, proteins, nucleic acids. Oxidation of lipids, especially unsaturated fatty acids, leads to an increase in membrane permeability. During the oxidation of membrane proteins consisting of amino acids with disulfide bonds, the latter are converted into SH-radical, as a result of which cross-links are formed at amino groups, protein-lipid complexes are formed; proteins are oxidized and denatured, which leads to cell death. Not only hydroxyl radicals have a damaging effect, but also other intermediate products of the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide: hydronium cation - H3O +; perhydroxylanion - HO2-.