High Glucose Concentration Promotes Vancomycin-Enhanced Biofilm Formation of Vancomycin-Non-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus in Diabetic Mice

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 8; p. e0134852
• Main Authors: Hsu, Chi-Yu, Shu, Jwu-Ching, Lin, Mei-Hui, Chong, Kowit-Yu, Chen, Chien-Cheng, Wen, Shu-Min, Hsieh, Yi-Ting, Liao, Wan-Ting
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 05.08.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Analysis; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Autolysis; Bacteria; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Biofilms; Biofilms - drug effects; Biofilms - growth & development; Biotechnology; Blood glucose; Blood Glucose - metabolism; Catheters; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental - microbiology; Drug resistance; Environmental DNA; Foot diseases; Gene Expression - drug effects; Glucose; Glucose - pharmacology; Host-Pathogen Interactions - drug effects; Laboratories; Male; Medical instruments; Medicine; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Microbial mats; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Microbial Viability - drug effects; Microbial Viability - genetics; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Physiological aspects; Proteins; Rats, Inbred WKY; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Science; Staphylococcal Infections - blood; Staphylococcal Infections - microbiology; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus aureus - genetics; Staphylococcus aureus - physiology; Staphylococcus aureus - ultrastructure; Staphylococcus infections; Urinary tract diseases; Urinary tract infections; Urogenital system; Vancomycin; Vancomycin - pharmacology; Vancomycin Resistance - genetics; Taiwan; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0134852

We previously demonstrated that vancomycin treatment increased acquisition of eDNA and enhanced biofilm formation of drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus through a cidA-mediated autolysis mechanism. Recently we found that such enhancement became more significant under a higher glucose concentration in vitro. We propose that besides improper antibiotic treatment, increased glucose concentration environment in diabetic animals may further enhance biofilm formation of drug-resistant S. aureus. To address this question, the diabetic mouse model infected by vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) was used under vancomycin treatment. The capacity to form biofilms was evaluated through a catheter-associated biofilm assay. A 10- and 1000-fold increase in biofilm-bound bacterial colony forming units was observed in samples from diabetic mice without and with vancomycin treatment, respectively, compared to healthy mice. By contrast, in the absence of glucose vancomycin reduced propensity to form biofilms in vitro through the increased production of proteases and DNases from VRSA. Our study highlights the potentially important role of increased glucose concentration in enhancing biofilm formation in vancomycin-treated diabetic mice infected by drug-resistant S. aureus.