Evaluation of bacterial adherence of clinical isolates of using a competitive model: An approach to the "race for the surface" theory.

OBJECTIVES

Implant-related infection is one of the most devastating complications in orthopaedic surgery. Many surface and/or material modifications have been developed in order to minimise this problem; however, most of the studies did not evaluate bacterial adhesion in the presence of eukaryotic cells, as stated by the 'race for the surface' theory. Moreover, the adherence of numerous clinical strains with different initial concentrations has not been studied.

METHODS

We describe a method for the study of bacterial adherence in the presence of preosteoblastic cells. For this purpose we mixed different concentrations of bacterial cells from collection and clinical strains of staphylococci isolated from implant-related infections with preosteoblastic cells, and analysed the minimal concentration of bacteria able to colonise the surface of the material with image analysis.

RESULTS

Our results show that clinical strains adhere to the material surface at lower concentrations than collection strains. A destructive effect of bacteria on preosteoblastic cells was also detected, especially with higher concentrations of bacteria.

CONCLUSIONS

The method described herein can be used to evaluate the effect of surface modifications on bacterial adherence more accurately than conventional monoculture studies. Clinical strains behave differently than collection strains with respect to bacterial adherence. M. Martinez-Perez, C. Perez-Jorge, D. Lozano, S. Portal-Nuñez, R. Perez-Tanoira, A. Conde, M. A. Arenas, J. M. Hernandez-Lopez, J. J. de Damborenea, E. Gomez-Barrena, P. Esbrit, J. Esteban. Evaluation of bacterial adherence of clinical isolates of using a competitive model: An approach to the "race for the surface" theory. 2017;6:315-322. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.65.BJR-2016-0226.R2.