scholarly journals Convergent Adaptation in the Dominant Global Hospital Clone ST239 of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

mBio ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Baines ◽  
Kathryn E. Holt ◽  
Mark B. Schultz ◽  
Torsten Seemann ◽  
Brian O. Howden ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTInfections caused by highly successful clones of hospital-associated methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(HA-MRSA) are a major public health burden. The globally dominant sequence type 239 (ST239) HA-MRSA clone has persisted in the health care setting for decades, but the basis of its success has not been identified. Taking a collection of 123 ST239 isolates spanning 32 years, we have used population-based functional genomics to investigate the evolution of this highly persistent and successful clone. Phylogenetic reconstruction and population modeling uncovered a previously unrecognized distinct clade of ST239 that was introduced into Australia from Asia and has perpetuated the epidemic in this region. Functional analysis demonstrated attenuated virulence and enhanced resistance to last-line antimicrobials, the result of two different phenomena, adaptive evolution within the original Australian ST239 clade and the introduction of a new clade displaying shifts in both phenotypes. The genetic diversity between the clades allowed us to employ genome-wide association testing and identify mutations in other essential regulatory systems, includingwalKR, that significantly associate with and may explain these key phenotypes. The phenotypic convergence of two independently evolving ST239 clades highlights the very strong selective pressures acting on HA-MRSA, showing that hospital environments have favored the accumulation of mutations in essential MRSA genes that increase resistance to antimicrobials, attenuate virulence, and promote persistence in the health care environment. Combinations of comparative genomics and careful phenotypic measurements of longitudinal collections of clinical isolates are giving us the knowledge to intelligently address the impact of current and future antibiotic usage policies and practices on hospital pathogens globally.IMPORTANCEMethicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) is responsible for innumerable drug-resistant health care-associated infections globally. This study, the first to investigate the evolutionary response of hospital-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) over many decades, demonstrates how MRSA can persist in a region through the reintroduction of a previously unrecognized distinct clade. This study also demonstrates the crucial adaptive responses of HA-MRSA to the highly selective environment of the health care system, the evolution of MRSA isolates to even higher levels of antibiotic resistance at the cost of attenuated virulence. However,in vivopersistence is maintained, resulting in a clone of HA-MRSA able to resist almost all antimicrobial agents and still cause invasive disease in the heavily compromised hosts found in modern health care settings.

2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 4508-4510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric D. Roche ◽  
Paul J. Renick ◽  
Shannon P. Tetens ◽  
Dennis L. Carson

ABSTRACTA wound biofilm model was created by adapting a superficial infection model. Partial-thickness murine wounds were inoculated with methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA). Dense biofilm communities developed at the wound surface after 24 h as demonstrated by microscopy and quantitative microbiology. Common topical antimicrobial agents had reduced efficacy when treatment was initiated 24 h after inoculation compared to 4 h after inoculation. This model provides a rapidin vivotest for new agents to treat wound biofilm infections.


2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 536-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hang Yang ◽  
Yun Zhang ◽  
Junping Yu ◽  
Yanling Huang ◽  
Xian-En Zhang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe treatment of infections caused by methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) is a challenge worldwide. In our search for novel antimicrobial agents against MRSA, we constructed a chimeric lysin (named as ClyH) by fusing the catalytic domain of Ply187 (Pc) with the non-SH3b-like cell wall binding domain of phiNM3 lysin. Herein, the antimicrobial activity of ClyH against MRSA strainsin vitroandin vivowas studied. Our results showed that ClyH could kill all of the tested clinical isolates of MRSA with higher efficacy than lysostaphin as well as its parental enzyme. The MICs of ClyH against clinicalS. aureusstrains were found to be as low as 0.05 to 1.61 mg/liter. In a mouse model, a single intraperitoneal administration of ClyH protected mice from death caused by MRSA, without obvious harmful effects. The present data suggest that ClyH has the potential to be an alternative therapeutic agent for the treatment of infections caused by MRSA.


2019 ◽  
Vol 202 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney E. Price ◽  
Dustin G. Brown ◽  
Dominique H. Limoli ◽  
Vanessa V. Phelan ◽  
George A. O’Toole

ABSTRACT Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients chronically infected with both Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus have worse health outcomes than patients who are monoinfected with either P. aeruginosa or S. aureus. We showed previously that mucoid strains of P. aeruginosa can coexist with S. aureus in vitro due to the transcriptional downregulation of several toxic exoproducts typically produced by P. aeruginosa, including siderophores, rhamnolipids, and HQNO (2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide). Here, we demonstrate that exogenous alginate protects S. aureus from P. aeruginosa in both planktonic and biofilm coculture models under a variety of nutritional conditions. S. aureus protection in the presence of exogenous alginate is due to the transcriptional downregulation of pvdA, a gene required for the production of the iron-scavenging siderophore pyoverdine as well as the downregulation of the PQS (Pseudomonas quinolone signal) (2-heptyl-3,4-dihydroxyquinoline) quorum sensing system. The impact of exogenous alginate is independent of endogenous alginate production. We further demonstrate that coculture of mucoid P. aeruginosa with nonmucoid P. aeruginosa strains can mitigate the killing of S. aureus by the nonmucoid strain of P. aeruginosa, indicating that the mechanism that we describe here may function in vivo in the context of mixed infections. Finally, we investigated a panel of mucoid clinical isolates that retain the ability to kill S. aureus at late time points and show that each strain has a unique expression profile, indicating that mucoid isolates can overcome the S. aureus-protective effects of mucoidy in a strain-specific manner. IMPORTANCE CF patients are chronically infected by polymicrobial communities. The two dominant bacterial pathogens that infect the lungs of CF patients are P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, with ∼30% of patients coinfected by both species. Such coinfected individuals have worse outcomes than monoinfected patients, and both species persist within the same physical space. A variety of host and environmental factors have been demonstrated to promote P. aeruginosa-S. aureus coexistence, despite evidence that P. aeruginosa kills S. aureus when these organisms are cocultured in vitro. Thus, a better understanding of P. aeruginosa-S. aureus interactions, particularly mechanisms by which these microorganisms are able to coexist in proximal physical space, will lead to better-informed treatments for chronic polymicrobial infections.


2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 2113-2121 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Malik ◽  
O. N. Silva ◽  
I. C. M. Fensterseifer ◽  
L. Y. Chan ◽  
R. J. Clark ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTStaphylococcus aureusis a virulent pathogen that is responsible for a wide range of superficial and invasive infections. Its resistance to existing antimicrobial drugs is a global problem, and the development of novel antimicrobial agents is crucial. Antimicrobial peptides from natural resources offer potential as new treatments against staphylococcal infections. In the current study, we have examined the antimicrobial properties of peptides isolated from anuran skin secretions and cyclized synthetic analogues of these peptides. The structures of the peptides were elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, revealing high structural and sequence similarity with each other and with sunflower trypsin inhibitor 1 (SFTI-1). SFTI-1 is an ultrastable cyclic peptide isolated from sunflower seeds that has subnanomolar trypsin inhibitory activity, and this scaffold offers pharmaceutically relevant characteristics. The five anuran peptides were nonhemolytic and noncytotoxic and had trypsin inhibitory activities similar to that of SFTI-1. They demonstrated weakin vitroinhibitory activities againstS. aureus, but several had strong antibacterial activities againstS. aureusin anin vivomurine wound infection model. pYR, an immunomodulatory peptide fromRana sevosa, was the most potent, with complete bacterial clearance at 3 mg · kg−1. Cyclization of the peptides improved their stability but was associated with a concomitant decrease in antimicrobial activity. In summary, these anuran peptides are promising as novel therapeutic agents for treating infections from a clinically resistant pathogen.


2019 ◽  
Vol 87 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atul K. Verma ◽  
Christopher Bauer ◽  
Vijaya Kumar Yajjala ◽  
Shruti Bansal ◽  
Keer Sun

ABSTRACT Postinfluenza methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection can quickly develop into severe, necrotizing pneumonia, causing over 50% mortality despite antibiotic treatments. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of antibiotic therapies and the impact of S. aureus alpha-toxin in a model of lethal influenza virus and MRSA coinfection. We demonstrate that antibiotics primarily attenuate alpha-toxin-induced acute lethality, even though both alpha-toxin-dependent and -independent mechanisms significantly contribute to animal mortality after coinfection. Furthermore, we found that the protein synthesis-suppressing antibiotic linezolid has an advantageous therapeutic effect on alpha-toxin-induced lung damage, as measured by protein leak and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity. Importantly, using a Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL)-negative MRSA isolate from patient sputum, we show that linezolid therapy significantly improves animal survival from postinfluenza MRSA pneumonia compared with vancomycin treatment. Rather than improved viral or bacterial control, this advantageous therapeutic effect is associated with a significantly attenuated proinflammatory cytokine response and acute lung damage in linezolid-treated mice. Together, our findings not only establish a critical role of alpha-toxin in the extreme mortality of secondary MRSA pneumonia after influenza but also provide support for the possibility that linezolid could be a more effective treatment than vancomycin to improve disease outcomes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ximena Castañeda ◽  
Cristina García-de-la-Mària ◽  
Oriol Gasch ◽  
Juan M. Pericas ◽  
Yolanda Armero ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The aim of this in vivo study was to compare the efficacy of vancomycin at standard doses (VAN-SD) to that of VAN at adjusted doses (VAN-AD) in achieving a VAN area under the curve/MIC ratio (AUC/MIC) of ≥400 against three methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains with different microdilution VAN MICs in an experimental endocarditis model. The valve vegetation bacterial counts after 48 h of VAN therapy were compared, and no differences were observed between the two treatment groups for any of the three strains tested. Overall, for VAN-SD and VAN-AD, the rates of sterile vegetations were 15/45 (33.3%) and 21/49 (42.8%) (P = 0.343), while the medians (interquartile ranges [IQRs]) for log10 CFU/g of vegetation were 2 (0 to 6.9) and 2 (0 to 4.5) (P = 0.384), respectively. In conclusion, this VAN AUC/MIC pharmacodynamic target was not a good predictor of vancomycin efficacy in MRSA experimental endocarditis.


2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (11) ◽  
pp. 5325-5330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Q. Xiong ◽  
Wessam Abdel Hady ◽  
Antoine Deslandes ◽  
Astrid Rey ◽  
Laurent Fraisse ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTCationic antimicrobial peptides (CAPs) play important roles in host immune defenses. Plectasin is a defensin-like CAP isolated from the saprophytic fungusPseudoplectania nigrella. NZ2114 is a novel variant of plectasin with potent activity against Gram-positive bacteria. In this study, we investigated (i) thein vivopharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) characteristics of NZ2114 and (ii) thein vivoefficacy of NZ2114 in comparison with those of two conventional antibiotics, vancomycin or daptomycin, in an experimental rabbit infective endocarditis (IE) model due to a methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) strain (ATCC 33591). All NZ2114 regimens (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg of body weight, intravenously [i.v.], twice daily for 3 days) significantly decreased MRSA densities in cardiac vegetations, kidneys, and spleen versus those in untreated controls, except in one scenario (5 mg/kg, splenic MRSA counts). The efficacy of NZ2114 was clearly dose dependent in all target tissues. At 20 mg/kg, NZ2114 showed a significantly greater efficacy than vancomycin (P< 0.001) and an efficacy similar to that of daptomycin. Of importance, only NZ2114 (in 10- and 20-mg/kg regimens) prevented posttherapy relapse in cardiac vegetations, kidneys, and spleen, while bacterial counts in these target tissues continued to increase in vancomycin- and daptomycin-treated animals. Thesein vivoefficacies were equivalent and significantly correlated with three PK indices investigated:fCmax/MIC (the maximum concentration of the free, unbound fraction of a drug in serum divided by the MIC),fAUC/MIC (where AUC is the area under the concentration-time curve), andf%T>MIC(%T>MICis the cumulative percentage of a 24-h period that the drug concentration exceeds the MIC under steady-state pharmacokinetic conditions), as analyzed by a sigmoid maximum-effect (Emax) model (R2> 0.69). The superior efficacy of NZ2114 in this MRSA IE model suggests the potential for further development of this compound for treating serious MRSA infections.


2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (10) ◽  
pp. 5688-5694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel G. Meeker ◽  
Karen E. Beenken ◽  
Weston B. Mills ◽  
Allister J. Loughran ◽  
Horace J. Spencer ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe usedin vitroandin vivomodels of catheter-associated biofilm formation to compare the relative activity of antibiotics effective against methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) in the specific context of an established biofilm. The results demonstrated that, underin vitroconditions, daptomycin and ceftaroline exhibited comparable activity relative to each other and greater activity than vancomycin, telavancin, oritavancin, dalbavancin, or tigecycline. This was true when assessed using established biofilms formed by the USA300 methicillin-resistant strain LAC and the USA200 methicillin-sensitive strain UAMS-1. Oxacillin exhibited greater activity against UAMS-1 than LAC, as would be expected, since LAC is an MRSA strain. However, the activity of oxacillin was less than that of daptomycin and ceftaroline even against UAMS-1. Among the lipoglycopeptides, telavancin exhibited the greatest overall activity. Specifically, telavancin exhibited greater activity than oritavancin or dalbavancin when tested against biofilms formed by LAC and was the only lipoglycopeptide capable of reducing the number of viable bacteria below the limit of detection. With biofilms formed by UAMS-1, telavancin and dalbavancin exhibited comparable activity relative to each other and greater activity than oritavancin. Importantly, ceftaroline was the only antibiotic that exhibited greater activity than vancomycin when testedin vivoin a murine model of catheter-associated biofilm formation. These results emphasize the need to consider antibiotics other than vancomycin, most notably, ceftaroline, for the treatment of biofilm-associatedS. aureusinfections, including by the matrix-based antibiotic delivery methods often employed for local antibiotic delivery in the treatment of these infections.


2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A. Rodriguez ◽  
Maria Agudelo ◽  
Andres F. Zuluaga ◽  
Omar Vesga

ABSTRACTPrevious studies have shown that “bioequivalent” generic products of vancomycin are less effectivein vivoagainstStaphylococcus aureusthan the innovator compound. Considering that suboptimal bactericidal effect has been associated with emergence of resistance, we aimed to assessin vivothe impact of exposure to innovator and generic products of vancomycin onS. aureussusceptibility. A clinical methicillin-resistantS. aureus(MRSA) strain from a liver transplant patient with persistent bacteremia was used for which MIC, minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and autolytic properties were determined. Susceptibility was also assessed by determining a population analysis profile (PAP) with vancomycin concentrations from 0 to 5 mg/liter. ICR neutropenic mice were inoculated in each thigh with ∼7.0 log10CFU. Treatment with the different vancomycin products (innovator and three generics; 1,200 mg/kg of body weight/day every 3 h) started 2 h later while the control group received sterile saline. After 24 h, mice were euthanized, and the thigh homogenates were plated. Recovered colonies were reinoculated to new groups of animals, and the exposure-recovery process was repeated until 12 cycles were completed. The evolution of resistance was assessed by PAP after cycles 5, 10, 11, and 12. The initial isolate displayed reduced autolysis and higher resistance frequencies thanS. aureusATCC 29213 but without vancomycin-intermediateS. aureus(VISA) subpopulations. After 12 cycles, innovator vancomycin had significantly reduced resistant subpopulations at 1, 2, and 3 mg/liter, while the generic products had enriched them progressively by orders of magnitude. The great capacity of generic vancomycin to select for less susceptible organisms raises concerns about the role of therapeutic inequivalence of any antimicrobial on the epidemiology of resistance worldwide.


2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (12) ◽  
pp. 6291-6297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azzam Saleh-Mghir ◽  
Oana Dumitrescu ◽  
Aurélien Dinh ◽  
Yassine Boutrad ◽  
Laurent Massias ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTCommunity-associated methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(CA-MRSA) can cause osteomyelitis with severe sepsis and/or local complications in which a Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) role is suspected.In vitrosub-MIC antibiotic effects on growth and PVL production by 11 PVL+MRSA strains, including the major CA-MRSA clones (USA300, including the LAC strain; USA400; and USA1000), and 11 PVL+methicillin-susceptibleS. aureus(MSSA) strains were tested in microplate culture. Time-kill analyses with ceftobiprole at its MIC were also run with LAC. Efficacies of ceftobiprole (40 mg/kg of body weight subcutaneously [s.c.] four times a day [q.i.d.]) or vancomycin (60 mg/kg intramuscularly [i.m.] twice a day [b.i.d.]) alone or combined with rifampin (10 mg/kg b.i.d.) against rabbit CA-MRSA osteomyelitis, induced by tibial injection of 3.4 × 107CFU of LAC, were compared. Treatment, started 14 days postinoculation, lasted 14 days.In vitro, 6/11 strains cultured with sub-MICs of ceftobiprole produced 1.6- to 4.8-fold more PVL than did the controls, with no link to specific clones. Rifampin decreased PVL production by all tested strains. In time-kill analyses at the LAC MIC (0.75 mg/liter), PVL production rose transiently at 6 and 8 h and then declined 2-fold at 16 h, concomitant with a 2-log10-CFU-count decrease.In vivo, the mean log10CFU/g of bone for ceftobiprole (1.44 ± 0.40) was significantly lower than that for vancomycin (2.37 ± 1.22) (P= 0.034), with 7/10 versus 5/11 bones sterilized, respectively. Combination with rifampin enhanced ceftobiprole (1.16 ± 0.04 CFU/g of bone [P= 0.056], 11/11 sterile bones) and vancomycin (1.23 ± 0.06 CFU/g [P= 0.011], 11/11 sterile bones) efficacies. Ceftobiprole bactericidal activity and the rifampin anti-PVL effect could play a role in these findings, which should be of interest for treating CA-MRSA osteomyelitis.


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