Treatment and Prevention of Staphylococcus epidermidis Experimental Biomaterial-Associated Infection by Bactericidal Peptide 2

Abstract

Biomaterial-associated infections (BAI) are the major cause of failure of indwelling medical devices and are predominantly caused by staphylococci, especially Staphylococcus epidermidis. We investigated the in vitro microbicidal activity of the synthetic antimicrobial peptide bactericidal peptide 2 (BP2) and its efficacy in a murine model of S. epidermidis BAI. BP2 showed potent microbicidal activity at micromolar concentrations against a broad spectrum of microorganisms, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The staphylocidal activity of BP2 was not affected by physiological salt concentrations and was only slightly affected by the presence of human plasma. In the BAI model, injection of BP2 (5 mg/kg of body weight) 1 h after challenge with S. epidermidis resulted in an 80% reduction in the number of culture-positive implants and a 100-fold reduction in survival of S. epidermidis in peri-implant tissue at 24 h postchallenge. When BP2 was injected along implants 3 h prior to bacterial challenge, the median numbers of CFU cultured from biomaterial implants and peri-implant tissue were reduced by 85% and 90%, respectively. In conclusion, BP2 has potent, broad-spectrum in vitro microbicidal activity and showed potent in vivo activity in a murine model of S. epidermidis biomaterialassociated infection.

Combinatorial materials research applied to the development of new surface coatings XII: Novel, environmentally friendly antimicrobial coatings derived from biocide-functional acrylic polyols and isocyanates

“…24,25 Once attached to the surface of an implanted medical device, S. epidermidis produces a biofilm that consists of a thick slimy layer of extracellular polymeric substances (i.e., nucleic acids, proteins, and carbohydrates) which the bacteria embed themselves. The biofilm matrix effectively protects the bacteria from a number of adverse environmental conditions encountered within the body, such as the presence of antibiotics and the host immune response, making S. epidermidis infections extremely difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate.…”

68Ga-DOTA-Siglec-9 PET/CT imaging of peri-implant tissue responses and staphylococcal infections

“…Slime-producing S. epidermidis strains exhibit robust attachment to the plastic devices and metallic implant surfaces followed by slow proliferation and low metabolic activity within the biofilm [ 3 ]-[ 5 ]. By nature, these infections are frequently clinically indolent and represent diagnostic and treatment challenges [ 1 ],[ 6 ],[ 7 ]. Related to differences in virulence, the outcome of bone implant infections caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci is better than those caused by Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) [ 8 ].…”

Survival of Staphylococcus epidermidis in Fibroblasts and Osteoblasts

“…We have previously shown that S. epidermidis can be cultured from bone approximately 7 weeks after infection in rats (70) and rabbits (71), using a foreign body osteomyelitis model. In addition, Kwakman et al (72) showed that S. epidermidis can persist in peri-implant tissue from an experimental catheter-associated infection model in mice. However, the method of culture of the tissues for each of these studies does not distinguish between intracellular and extracellular bacteria.…”