title: Association of recurrent furunculosis with Panton-Valentine leukocidin and the genetic background of Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of skin and soft tissue infections, such as furuncles, carbuncles, and abscesses, but it also frequently colonizes the human skin and mucosa without causing clinical symptoms. Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a pore-forming toxin that has been associated with soft tissue infections and necrotizing pneumonia. We have compared the genotypes, virulence gene repertoires, and phage patterns of 74 furunculosis isolates with those of 108 control strains from healthy nasal carriers. The large majority of furunculosis strains were methicillin sensitive. Clonal cluster (CC) 121 (CC121) and CC22 accounted for 70% of the furunculosis strains but for only 8% of the nasal isolates. The PVL-encoding genes luk-PV were detected in 85% of furunculosis strains, while their prevalence among colonizing S. aureus strains was below 1%. luk-PV genes were distributed over several lineages (CCs 5, 8, 22, 30, and 121 and sequence type 59). Even within the same lineages, luk-PV-positive phages characterized furunculosis strains, while their luk-PV-negative variants were frequent among nasal strains. The very tight epidemiological linkage between luk-PV and furunculosis, which could be separated from the genetic background of the S. aureus strain as well as from the gene makeup of the luk-PV-transducing phage, lends support to the notion of an important role for PVL in human furunculosis. These results make a case for the determination of luk-PV in recurrent soft tissue infections with methicillin-sensitive as well as methicillin-resistant S. aureus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Masiuk
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kopron
authors.forename: Dorothee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grumann
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Goerke
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kolata
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jursa-Kulesza
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giedrys-Kalemba
authors.forename: Barbara M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Bröker
authors.forename: Silva
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holtfreter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D001434:Bacteriophage Typing; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005098:Exotoxins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005667:Furunculosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007956:Leukocidins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D009666:Nose / Q000382:microbiology; D012008:Recurrence; D013207:Staphylococcal Skin Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005098:Exotoxins; D007956:Leukocidins; C078284:Panton-Valentine leukocidin; D037521:Virulence Factors