Minimal attachment killing (MAK): a versatile method for susceptibility testing of attached biofilm-positive and -negative Staphylococcus epidermidis

• Published in: Medical microbiology and immunology Vol. 191; no. 2; pp. 107 - 114
• Main Authors: KNOBLOCH, Johannes K.-M, VON OSTEN, Heimke, HORSTKOTTE, Matthias A, ROHDE, Holger, MACK, Dietrich
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Springer 01.10.2002; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - classification; Anti-Bacterial Agents - immunology; Antibiotics; Bacteria; Bacterial Adhesion; Bacteriological methods and techniques used in bacteriology; Bacteriology; Biofilms - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Infections; Microbial Sensitivity Tests - methods; Microbiology; Models, Biological; Mutation; Pathogens; Staphylococcus epidermidis - drug effects; Staphylococcus epidermidis - genetics; Staphylococcus epidermidis - physiology; Biofilm; Bacteria; Micrococcales; Micrococcaceae; Staphylococcus epidermidis; Drug susceptibility test
• ISSN: 0300-8584; 1432-1831
• DOI: 10.1007/s00430-002-0125-2

Due to its ability to attach to polymeric surfaces Staphylococcus epidermidis is a common pathogen in chronic, medical device-associated infections. Attached S. epidermidis displays reduced susceptibility against a variety of antimicrobial substances, and little correlation between standard susceptibility test results and clinical outcome of antibiotic treatment is observed. In this study we established a new, versatile, and easy method of antimicrobial susceptibility testing for attached Staphylococcus epidermidis, suitable for both biofilm-negative and biofilm-positive attached bacteria using readily available equipment. For three biofilm-positive wild-type strains and their biofilm-negative mutants minimal attachment killing concentrations (MAK) of penicillin, oxacillin, vancomycin, and gentamicin were determined. Depending on strain and investigated antibiotics, a heterogeneous MAK (MAK(hetero)) could be differentiated from a homogeneous resistance (MAK(homo)), favoring a model of few persisters within attached cells under antibiotic treatment. For the biofilm-negative mutants, a lower MAK(homo) was detected than for the corresponding wild types for some of the tested antibiotics, which probably resulted from higher bacterial inocula of wild-type strains, whereas the MAK(hetero) were comparable for mutants and wild types for most of the tested antibiotics and strains. These data indicate that biofilm formation is not a necessary prerequisite for persistence of attached S. epidermidis cells under antibiotic treatment, which could explain therapeutic failure in foreign body-associated infections due to biofilm-negative S. epidermidis isolates. The highly individual resistance phenotypes of the investigated strains with different antibiotics suggests that MAK determination could help to predict the therapeutic outcome of foreign body-associated infections with both biofilm-positive and biofilm-negative S. epidermidis.