ISSN 2326-7291
International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 9 (8), pp. 001-004, August, 2020. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research paper
Evaluation of biofilm production by Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates from nosocomial infections and skin of healthy volunteers
Fereshteh Eftekhar*and Zeinab Mirmohamadi
Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C., Evin, Tehran, Iran.
Accepted 19 May, 2020
Abstract
Staphylococcus epidermidis is a frequent cause of nosocomial infections. The major virulence factor is thought to be biofilm formation by the organism mediated by gene products of the icaADBC operon. In this research, biofilm phenotype and icaADBC gene carriage were studied in 50 S. epidermidis isolates from symptomatic patients (group A) and 50 skin isolates from healthy individuals (group B). Biofilm phenotype was shown by colony morphology on Congo red agar and the microtiter plate method was used for quantitative measurement of biofilm formation. Polymerase chain reaction was employed to detect the presence of icaADBC operon. The results showed no significant difference between the two groups of isolates for the potential to form biofilms by the two phenotypic assays or the amounts of biofilm produced by the two groups of isolates. On the other hand, ica gene carriage was more discriminatory and was observed in 30% of group A isolates compared to 8% of the skin isolates. We conclude that S. epidermidis isolates from patients with symptomatic infections are not necessarily more virulent from the skin contaminants and the capacity to form biofilms in vivo is influenced by environmental stimuli independent of the icaADBC gene products.
Key words: Biofilm, Staphylococcus epidermidis, icaADBC, patients isolates, skin isolates.