The novel anti-Propionibacterium acnes compound, Sargafuran, found in the marine brown alga Sargassum macrocarpum.

We screened extracts of 342 species of marine algae collected from Japanese coastlines for antibacterial activity against Propionibacterium acnes, and found a novel antibacterial compound, which we named Sargafuran, from the MeOH extract of the marine brown alga, Sargassum macrocarpum. Sargafuran has low cytotoxicity, and the MIC against P. acnes was 15 microg ml(-1), showing a broad antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria. A time-kill study showed that Sargafuran was bactericidal and completely killed P. acnes at 4 x MIC by lysing bacterial cells. These results suggest that Sargafuran might be useful as a lead compound to develop new types of anti-P. acnes substances and new skin care cosmetics to prevent or improve acne.