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In vitro susceptibility of methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible strains of Staphylococcus aureus to two different cold atmospheric plasma sources

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Abstract

Background

Staphylococcus aureus may be the most important wound pathogen and causative for most of surgical site infections. As many anti-staphylococcal drugs are useless because of resistance, novel antimicrobial strategies are strongly needed and may be provided by cold atmospheric plasma (CP), which is being currently investigated for antiseptic efficacy.

Methods

To test the antimicrobial properties of CP against Staphylococcus aureus, 168 methicillin-susceptible isolates (MSSA) and 50 methicillin-resistant isolates (MRSA) were treated with two technically different plasma sources [an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) and a dielectric barrier discharge plasma (DBD)] in vitro.

Results

CP treatment allowed a reproducible and significant growth reduction of MRSA and MSSA. However, MRSA was significantly less susceptible to treatment with DBD than was MSSA, while no difference between MRSA and MSSA was found using APPJ.

Conclusions

As the initial physical antiseptic on skin, CP may be suitable for rapid decolonization of microbial pathogens in vivo. Each device must undergo validated efficacy testing prior to clinical application, as device related differences may occur.

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Notes

  1. R Development Core Team (2009). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0, URL http://www.R-project.org.

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Acknowledgments

This study was performed within the joint research project “Campus PlasmaMed”, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Grant no. 13N9773 and 13N9779). We thank Prof. Wolfgang Witte and PD Guido Werner for confirmation of laMRSA and caMRSA at the National Reference Center for Staphylococci in Wernigerode, Germany.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Clinic and Polyclinic for Trauma Surgery and Rehabilitative Medicine, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Sauerbruchstraße, 17475, Greifswald, Germany

      Matthias Napp, Peter Hinz, Romy Spitzmueller & Denis Gümbel

    2. Clinic and Polyclinic of Dermatology, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Sauerbruchstraße, 17489, Greifswald, Germany

      Georg Daeschlein, Sebastian von Podewils, Hermann Haase & Michael Jünger

    3. Clinic and Polyclinic of Dermatology and Venerology, University Medicine Rostock, Schillingallee 35, 18057, Rostock, Germany

      Steffen Emmert

    4. Clinic and Polyclinic of Orthopaedics and Orthopaedic Surgery, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Sauerbruchstraße, 17475, Greifswald, Germany

      Richard Kasch

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    1. Matthias Napp
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    Matthias Napp and Georg Daeschlein have equally contributed to this work.

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    Napp, M., Daeschlein, G., von Podewils, S. et al. In vitro susceptibility of methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible strains of Staphylococcus aureus to two different cold atmospheric plasma sources. Infection 44, 531–537 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-016-0888-9

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