A novel mouse model of Staphylococcus aureus vascular graft infection: non-invasive imaging of biofilm development in vivo

in: American Journal of Pathology (2017)
Van de Vyver, Helene; Bovenkamp, Philipp R.; Hoerr, Verena; Schwegmann, Katrin; Tuchscherr, Lorena; Niemann, Silke; Kursawe, Laura; Grosse, Christina; Moter, Annette; Hansen, Uwe; Hermann, Sven; Neugebauer, Ute; Peters, Georg; Löffler, Bettina; Kuhlmann, Michael
Staphylococcus aureus causes very serious infections of vascular grafts. Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of this disease is largely lacking due to the absence of representable models. Therefore, the aim of this study was to set up a mouse model of vascular graft infections that closely mimics the human situation. A catheter was inserted into the right carotid artery of the mice, which acted as a vascular graft. Mice were infected intravenously and development of the infection was followed up using 8 different Staphylococcus aureus strains. Although all the strains showed varying abilities to form biofilm in vitro and displayed different levels of virulence in the mice, they all caused biofilm formation on the grafts, as shown by electron microscopy and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). This graft infection was monitored using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) over the whole time course. MRI imaging allowed the quantification of blood flow through the arteries, which was decreased in the catheter due to the infection. PET imaging showed a highly increased level of inflammation at the site of the catheter after infection. This model closely represents the situation in patients as it takes all factors of the disease into account, both from the pathogen as from the host side, and therefore is ideal for the testing of novel treatment, diagnosis and prevention strategies. Also, combining MRI and PET imaging with microscopic techniques provides a novel way to non-invasively follow-up infection and precisely analyze the biofilm development.

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