Analysis of the effects of cigarette smoke on staphylococcal virulence phenotypes.

ABSTRACT: Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death, disease, and disability worldwide. It is well established that cigarette smoke provokes inflammatory activation and impairs antimicrobial functions of human immune cells. Here we explore whether cigarette smoke likewise affects the virulence properties of an important human pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus, and in particular methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), one of the leading causes of invasive bacterial infections. MRSA colonizes the nasopharynx and is thus exposed to inhalants, including cigarette smoke. MRSA exposed to cigarette smoke extract (CSE-MRSA) was more resistant to macrophage killing (4-fold higher survival; P < 0.0001). CSE-MRSA demonstrated reduced susceptibility to cell lysis (1.78-fold; P = 0.032) and antim

SUBMITTER: McEachern EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4432760 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature