Comparison of adhesion of wound isolates of Staphylococcus aureus to immobilized proteins

AIMS: To determine the ability of 149 clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus from burns, other wounds and environmental isolates to adhere to immobilized proteins. METHODS AND RESULTS: The ability to bind to immobilized fibrinogen, fibronectin, laminin, collagen, IgG and lysozyme was studied using a microtitre plate assay. The strains were very diverse. Binding to fibrinogen was most frequent, followed by fibronectin, collagen and laminin. Binding to IgG and lysozyme was weak and few strains showed strong binding. Numerical analysis showed that 65% of the strains infecting burns had similar properties and bound to fibrinogen, fibronectin, collagen and IgG. The strains infecting other wounds had more variable characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: The ability to adhere to proteins is important in wound infection, but clinical isolates were diverse in their ability to bind to the proteins tested. Burn wounds were more likely to be infected with strains showing multiple binding characteristics. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The study confirms the importance of adhesins in clinical infection.