Variability of antibiotic susceptibility and toxin production of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from skin, soft tissue, and bone related infections.
BACKGROUND
Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic commensal bacterium that mostly colonizes the skin and soft tissues. The pathogenicity of S. aureus is due to both its ability to resist antibiotics, and the production of toxins. Here, we characterize a group of genes responsible for toxin production and antibiotic resistance of S. aureus strains isolated from skin, soft tissue, and bone related infections.


RESULTS
A total of 136 S. aureus strains were collected from five different types of infection: furuncles, pyomyositis, abscesses, Buruli ulcers, and osteomyelitis, from hospital admissions and out-patients in Benin. All strains were resistant to benzyl penicillin, while 25% were resistant to methicillin, and all showed sensitivity to vancomycin. Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) was the most commonly produced virulence factor (70%), followed by staphylococcal enterotoxin B (44%). Exfoliative toxin B was produced by 1.3% of the strains, and was only found in isolates from Buruli ulcers. The tsst-1, sec, and seh genes were rarely detected (≤1%).


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides new insight into the prevalence of toxin and antibiotic resistance genes in S. aureus strains responsible for skin, soft tissue, and bone infections. Our results showed that PVL was strongly associated with pyomyositis and osteomyelitis, and that there is a high prevalence of PVL-MRSA skin infections in Benin.
Laboratoire de Biologie et de Typage Moléculaire en Microbiologie, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques/Université d'Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin.
Haziz
H
Sina
Théodora A
TA
Ahoyo
Wardi
W
Moussaoui
Daniel
D
Keller
Honoré S
HS
Bankolé
Yves
Y
Barogui
Ymkje
Y
Stienstra
Simeon O
SO
Kotchoni
Gilles
G
Prévost
Lamine
L
Baba-Moussa
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001847:Bone Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D018461:Soft Tissue Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013207:Staphylococcal Skin Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins