Activities of cholic acid-derived antimicrobial agents against multidrug-resistant bacteria

Cationic cholic acid derivatives displayed potent and broad-spectrum activi ty against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative and -positive bacteria, Specif ic examples were effective permeabilizers of the outer membranes of many st rains of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria and sensitized these to hydrophobic antibiotics, We also prepared a new cholic acid derivative wit h improved apparent selectivity for prokaryote membranes.