Encapsulation of coagulase-negative staphylococci

In vitro assays of Staphylococcus epidermidis characteristics and outcome in an endocarditis model

OBJECTIVE

Staphylococcus epidermidis adherence to indwelling polymers is important in prosthetic valve endocarditis. Earlier studies have related streptococcal endocarditis to isolates with high levels of cell-associated hexoses. The objective of the present study was to determine if a relationship exists between an S epidermidis isolate assay score and production/severity of experimental endocarditis.

DESIGN

Groups of patient S epidermidis isolates were screened for surface hexoses and an animal model of endocarditis with isolates testing highest and lowest on the screen was produced. Disease severity produced by 'high hexose' versus 'low hexose' organisms was evaluated. Endocarditis responding variables were bacterial vegetation weight and log(10) colony forming units (cfu) and in survival tests, comparative time to death with different isolates. Bacterial characteristics were not measured. Baseline data showed a vegetation weight difference so that with a β error of 0.20 and a two-tailed α error of 0.05, a significant difference would be noted using 30 animals. A total of 64 animals was used. POPULATION STUDDED: Bacterial isolates from two patient groups (n=42 and n=68) on which in vitro assays were run. An animal model of endocarditis (n=64) was used to evaluate four selected isolates for vegetation size, log(10) cfu/g, and survival time.

MAIN RESULTS

In a group of S epidermidis endocarditis animals evaluated for time of death, a significantly more rapid death time resulted in the group dosed with the high hexose-scoring organism (P<0.025). Vegetations and log(10) cfu produced by test high hexose isolates averaged larger but were not significantly different.

CONCLUSIONS

A significantly more rapid death rate occurs in untreated endocarditis using a high hexose isolate than with S epidermidis with low surface hexoses. Using bacterial vegetation and cfu as endpoints, however, experimental endocarditis using patient isolates of S epidermidis does not show the same strong correlation to bacterial surface hexoses as does streptococcal endocarditis.

Are the soft, liquid-like structures detected around bacteria by ambient dynamic atomic force microscopy capsules?

High-resolution imaging of bacterial capsules by microscopy is of paramount importance in microbiology due to their role in pathogenesis. This is, however, quite a challenging task due to their delicate nature. In this context, recent reports have claimed successful exploitation of the capacity of atomic force microscopy (AFM) for imaging of extremely deformable (even liquid) surfaces under ambient conditions to detect bacterial capsules in the form of tiny amounts of liquid-like substances around bacteria. In order to further explore this supposed capacity of AFM, in this work, three staphylococcal strains have been scrutinized for the presence of capsules using such an AFM-based approach with a phosphate buffer and water as the suspending liquids. Similar results were obtained with the three strains. AFM showed the presence of liquid-like substances identical to those attributed to bacterial capsules in the previous literature. Extensive imaging and chemical analysis point out the central role of the suspending liquid (buffer) in the formation of these substances. The phenomenon has been reproduced even by using nonliving particles, a finding that refutes the biological origin of the liquid-like substances visualized around the cells. Deliquescence of major components of biological buffers, such as K(2)HPO(4), CaCl(2), or HEPES, is proposed as the fundamental mechanism of the formation of these ultrasmall liquid-like structures. Such an origin could explain the high similarity of our results obtained with three very different strains and also the high similarity of these results to others reported in the literature based on other bacteria and suspending liquids. Finally, possible biological/biomedical implications of the presence of these ultrasmall amounts of liquids wrapping microorganisms are discussed.

The nature and role of microbial biofilm in infections associated with prosthetic devices

An understanding of the role of microbial biofilm in infections associated with prosthetic devices is essential for the implementation of successful treatment regimens.