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Abstract  In 1968, the agar dilution method was developed as an independent Japanese method for measuring the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antimicrobial agents. As this method differed in a few respects from the MIC measurement methods used in other countries, it was revised in 1981, by a committee headed by Susumu Mitsuhashi, and the revised method (Chemotherapy 29:76–79, 1981) has been used since then. In 1979, an agar dilution method for measuring the MIC of anaerobes was developed by a committee chaired by Nozomu Kosakai (Chemotherapy 27:559–561, 1979). In 1990, a committee headed by Sachiko Goto approved a broth microdilution method for nonfastidious bacteria (Chemotherapy 38:102–105, 1990). Later, a committee headed by Atsushi Saito examined media that would be suitable for nonfastidious bacteria and fastidious bacteria, and they endeavored to prepare a broth microdilution method for anaerobic bacteria. In this context, a new broth microdilution method was proposed at the 40th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Chemotherapy (JSC) in Nagoya in 1992, and the proposal was adopted as the standard JSC method after some modification (Chemotherapy 41: 183–189, 1993). The agar dilution method has remained unrevised for approximately 20 years. A proposal to review this method was recently made, and the 2007 Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing was formed, comprising the JSC members listed below. Under the auspices of this committee, the method revised in 1981 was reviewed in comparison to the international standard method (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute [CLSI] method). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We investigated the effects of fluconazole and micafungin for the therapy of deep-seated candidiasis in a cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppressed mouse model.Methods: We used the experimental model of intraperitoneal fungal abscess caused by Candida albicans, as described previously.Results and conclusions: Micafungin efficacy was equal to that of fluconazole in one-tenth dosage even in peritonitis. We also assessed the short-term (24?h) and long-term (8 days) therapeutic effects after the end of therapy. Although the therapeutic effect of fluconazole was similar to that of micafungin at 24?h after the end of therapy, the effect of micafungin was superior to that of fluconazole at 8 days after the end of therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although vitamin C is considered to act both as pro-oxidant and antioxidant, the mechanisms underlying these actions are still unclear. Using the oxygen-sensitive system of a strict anaerobe, Prevotella melaninogenica , we investigated both the pro-oxidant and antioxidant mechanisms of vitamin C. In the presence of vitamin C, the 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8OHdG) formation induced by oxygen exposure was enhanced, probably due to the action of vitamin C on hydrogen peroxide generated during oxygen exposure: while catalase almost completely suppressed the enhancing effect of vitamin C, 8OHdG formation induced by hydrogen peroxide was enhanced by vitamin C. By contrast, the presence of vitamin C inhibited bacterial cell death, membrane damage, and lipid peroxidation induced by oxygen exposure. Sodium azide showed similar effects to vitamin C, thus the antioxidant action of vitamin C may be due to its quenching of the singlet oxygen generated in this system. Both the pro-oxidant and antioxidant effects of vitamin C were observed only in acidic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]