Temporin A as a prophylactic agent against methicillin sodium-susceptible and methicillin sodium-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis vascular graft infection.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of temporin A as a prophylactic agent in a rat model of vascular graft infection from methicillin sodium-susceptible and methicillin sodium-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis.


METHODS
The prospective, randomized, controlled animal study set in a research laboratory in a university hospital used 280 adult male Wistar rats (weight range, 280 to 350 g). Graft infections were established in the back subcutaneous tissue of rats with implantation of 1-cm(2) sterile Dacron grafts followed by topical inoculation with 2 x 10(7) colony-forming units of S epidermidis. The study for each staphylococcal strain included: one control group (no graft contamination), one contaminated group that did not receive any antibiotic prophylaxis, one contaminated group that received temporin A-soaked graft, two contaminated groups that received perioperative intraperitoneal cefazolin (30 mg/kg) or vancomycin hydrochloride prophylaxis (10 mg/kg), and two contaminated groups that received temporin A-soaked graft and perioperative intraperitoneal cefazolin (30 mg/kg) or vancomycin hydrochloride (10 mg/kg) prophylaxis. All grafts were explanted at 7 days after implantation. The main outcome measure was quantification of bacterial contamination.


RESULTS
Overall, the perioperative prophylaxis based on soaked grafts was not significantly different to that of parenteral vancomycin hydrochloride. Only the combination between temporin A and vancomycin hydrochloride produced a complete bacterial inhibition for both strains.


CONCLUSIONS
Temporin A showed a similar antibacterial in vitro activity against the two different strains. The in vivo results suggest its potential use in providing prophylaxis to direct graft contamination when used in combination with parenteral vancomycin hydrochloride.
Ghiselli
Roberto
R
Institute of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, University of Ancona, Italy.
Giacometti
Andrea
A
Cirioni
Oscar
O
Mocchegiani
Federico
F
Orlando
Fiorenza
F
Kamysz
Wojciech
W
Del Prete
Maria Simona
MS
Lukasiak
Jerzy
J
Scalise
Giorgio
G
Saba
Vittorio
V
D000818:Animals; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D002437:Cefazolin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008712:Methicillin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011506:Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000187:drug effects*; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000627:therapeutic use
D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D011506:Proteins; C104501:temporin; D014640:Vancomycin; D002437:Cefazolin; D008712:Methicillin