Staphylococcus epidermidis ica genes in nasal samples of healthy individuals; an update on previous results

Abstract

Background: Clinical importance of microbial biofilm has now been discussed for a long time. Clinical and research evidence is available for its involvement in various infections. The growth of microbes in form of biofilms helps them to evade body’s immune system as well as antibiotics. This research article provides an update on previous research results comparing skin, blood and wound samples. We have further analyzed ica genes’ presence in nasal mucosa of healthy subjects, as both nasal mucosa and wound bed are moist surfaces. Methods: This study compared presence of Staphylococcus epidermidis’ ica genes in nasal mucosa and skin samples from healthy individuals. The study also analyzed and compared this to the previously findings and results. In total, 81 swab samples have been included in this study (40 nasal and 41 skin samples). After culture and isolation, conventional PCR and electrophoresis have been used for gene identification. Results: We have detected 15 % positivity for icaA, 17.5 % for icaB, 32.5 % for icaC and 20% for icaD in nasal samples, respectively. In skin samples, 19.51 % tested positive for each of icaA, icaB and icaD genes, while 24.39 % were positive for icaC gene. Our results indicate that skin and nasal sources have no significant difference in terms of ica positive S. epidermidis’ presence. This finding is consistent with our previous results. Conclusions: The ica genes possessing S. epidermidis strains are present in skin and nasal samples are not significantly different. Furthermore, normal flora from these sources is not involved in persistent infections such as wound.

Keywords

• biofilm
• cons
• intercellular adhesion (ica) genes
• nasal mucosa
• staphylococcus epidermidis.