Vancomycin Hydrochloride, USP

Spectrum: Vancomycin HCl inhibits growth of many Gram-positive bacteria including the antibiotic resistant superbug, MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Vancomycin HCl is effective against MRSA because it inhibits cell wall synthesis through a different mechanism other than β-lactam antibiotics.

Gram-positive bacteria have emerged that are resistant to Vancomycin HCl, such as Vancomycin HCl resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) and Vancomycin HCl-resistant enterococci (VRE).

Microbiology Applications: Vancomycin HCl inhibits the growth of most Gram-positive bacteria including MRSA. It is usually only indicated for bacteria causing serious or life-threatening infections like β-lactam-resistant staphylococci bacterial infections. There are now Vancomycin HCl resistant bacteria, primarily, Vancomycin HCl resistant S. aureus (VRSA), and Vancomycin HCl resistant enterococci (VRE).

Vancomycin and Vancomycin HCl are commonly used in selective media for isolation of Gram-negative pathogens including Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Helicobacter pylori, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Representative MIC values include:

• Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) 0.25 µg/mL - 2 µg/mL
• Clostridium difficile 0.06 µg/mL - 4 µg/mL
• For a representative list of Vancomycin HCl MIC values, click here.

Pryjma et al. used Vancomycin HCl (TOKU-E) in Mueller Hinton (MH) medium to isolate Campylobacter jejuni: "FdhTU-Modulated Formate Dehydrogenase Expression and Electron Donor Availability Enhance Recovery of Campylobacter jejuni following Host Cell Infection"

Media Supplements

Vancomycin can be used as a selective agent in several types of isolation media:

Brucella medium - Brucella selective supplement

Columbia Blood Agar - Campylobacter selective supplement (Skirrow)

Columbia Blood Agar - Campylobacterselective supplement (Blaser-Wang)

Wilkins-Chalgren Anaerobe Agar - Isolation of Gram-negative anaerobes

Legionella CYE Agar - Legionella MWY Selective Supplement

Columbia Blood Agar - Helicobacter pylori Selective Supplement (Dent)

Legionella CYE Agar - Legionella GVPC Selective Supplement

Campylobacter Agar - Campylobacter Selective Supplement (Karmali)

Bolton Broth - Bolton Broth Selective Supplement

VRE Medium - VRE Selective Supplement

mTSB - VCC Selective Supplement

Campylobacter Agar Base - Modified Karmali Selective Supplement

Bolton Broth - Modified Bolton Broth Selective Supplement

Brucella Medium Base - Modified Brucella Selective Supplement

Legionella CYE Agar - Legionella GVPN Selective Supplement

Plant Biology Applications: Vancomycin HCl has low toxicity to plant cells and is often used in Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformations as a method to control its growth in plant cell culture media. Vancomycin HCl is also suitable for bacterial contamination control in plant cell culture media and is sometimes used in combination with cefotaxime due to greater synergistic effects. Most studies do not describe any negative effects to the plant by using Vancomycin HCl, however, in a study done by Silva and Fukai (2001), lower efficiency of transformation was found when used at 500 µg/ml.

Eukaryotic Cell Culture Applications: Vancomycin HCl can be used to select for cells containing the pcDNA3.1 resistance plasmid in 293 cell lines at an effective concentration of 400 µg/mL. For additional information on your cell culture needs, please visit our cell-culture database.

Form: Powder

Appearance: White or light brown powder

Source: Streptomyces orientalis

Water Content (Karl Fischer): Not more than 5.0%

pH: 2.5 - 4.5

Assay: (Dried Basis): Not less than 900 μg/mg

Identification: IR - Conforms

Purity Level: >80%

Solubility: Freely soluble in water

Impurity Profile: Vancomycin B: Not less than 85%
Any Individual Impurity: Not more than 5.0%

References:

Courvalin P (2012)  Vancomycin resistance in Gram-positive cocci. Clin. Infect. Dis. 42:S25-S34 

Joshi S et al (2013) Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in India: Prevalence & susceptibility pattern. Indian J. Med. Res. 137(2):363-369

Pollock HM, Holt J and Murray C (1983)  Comparison of susceptibilities of anaerobic bacteria to cefemenoxime, ceftriaxone and other antimicrobial compounds.  Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 23: 780-783

Silva JA and Fukai S (2001)  The impact of carbenicillin, cefotaxime and Vancomycin on chrysanthemum and tobacco TCL morphogenesis and Agrobacterium growth. J. Appl. Hort., Vol. 3(1): 3-12