Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis Virulence Strains as Causative Agents of Persistent Infections in Breast Implants

Abstract

Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus are currently considered two of the most important pathogens in nosocomial infections associated with catheters and other medical implants and are also the main contaminants of medical instruments. However because these species of Staphylococcus are part of the normal bacterial flora of human skin and mucosal surfaces, it is difficult to discern when a microbial isolate is the cause of infection or is detected on samples as a consequence of contamination. Rapid identification of invasive strains of Staphylococcus infections is crucial for correctly diagnosing and treating infections. The aim of the present study was to identify specific genes to distinguish between invasive and contaminating S. epidermidis and S. aureus strains isolated on medical devices; the majority of our samples were collected from breast prostheses. As a first step, we compared the adhesion ability of these samples with their efficacy in forming biofilms; second, we explored whether it is possible to determine if isolated pathogens were more virulent compared with international controls. In addition, this work may provide additional information on these pathogens, which are traditionally considered harmful bacteria in humans, and may increase our knowledge of virulence factors for these types of infections.

Significance of Infections in Implant Loss After Breast Reconstruction in the Course of Breast Cancer Treatment

“…These species adhere to the smooth surfaces of biomaterials, and may also colonize the skin. They demonstrate the ability to form a biofilm, which protects them against the host's immune system and antibiotics (Vacheethasanee et al 1998;Costerton et al 1999;Chessa et al 2016;Conte et al 2018).…”

The use of a virus-derived targeting peptide to selectively kill staphylococcus bacteria with antimicrobial peptides

“…These phages constitute, therefore, an abundant and widely applicable source of targeting peptides [33–35] directing AMPs against specific bacterial pathogens, and, as well, a bank of variants that can be used to maintain the efficacy of the targeted antimicrobial peptides. Both S. epidermidis and S. aureus are fast emerging to be the dominant pathogens in nosocomial infection [39,40] due to their tendency of rapid biofilm formation and development of multi-drug resistance capabilities. Thus, the strategy explored by this study may help us in developing therapies to combat such infections without damaging the prevalent microflora in the subjects while also not contributing to the growing arsenal antimicrobial resistance in pathogens by avoiding the usage of conventional antibiotic.…”

Overview of Genetic Background Beyond Polysaccharide Intercellular Adhesion Production in Staphylococcus epidermidis

“…Since icaR is encoding for a repression regulator, it is obviously clear that this gene could be in the origin of irreversible repression of ica operon expression and hence in non-biofilm forming phenotype (5). The other ica genes are highly frequent in strains isolated from biomaterial associated infections (30), making this molecular marker very suitable to discriminate between invasive and commensal strains (30). In our study, we did not detect the presence of IS256 inside ica operon; therefore, we cannot establish any relation between IS256 presence and the amount of PIA production, at least for studied strains.…”