bromochloroacetic-acid and Staphylococcal-Skin-Infections

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is a commensal of dogs that is implicated in the pathogenesis of canine pyoderma. This study aimed to determine if S. pseudintermedius expresses surface proteins resembling those from Staphylococcus aureus and to characterise them. S. pseudintermedius strain 326 was shown to adhere strongly to purified fibrinogen, fibronectin and cytokeratin 10. It adhered to the alpha-chain of fibrinogen which, along with binding to cytokeratin 10, is the hallmark of clumping factor B of S. aureus, a surface protein that is in part responsible for colonisation of the human nares. Ligand-affinity blotting with cell-wall extracts demonstrated that S. pseudintermedius 326 expressed a cell-wall anchored fibronectin binding protein which recognised the N-terminal 29kDa fragment. The ability to bind fibronectin is an important attribute of pathogenic S. aureus and is associated with the ability of S. aureus to colonise skin of human atopic dermatitis patients. S. pseudintermedius genomic DNA was probed with labelled DNA amplified from the serine-aspartate repeat encoding region of clfA of S. aureus. This probe hybridised to a single SpeI fragment of S. pseudintermedius DNA. In the cell-wall extract of S. pseudintermedius 326, a 180kDa protein was discovered which bound to fibrinogen by ligand-affinity blotting and reacted in a Western blot with antibodies raised against the serine-aspartate repeat region of ClfA and the B-repeats of SdrD of S. aureus. It is proposed that this is an Sdr protein with B-repeats that has an A domain that binds to fibrinogen. Whether it is the same protein that binds cytokeratin 10 is not clear.

Topics: Animals; Bacterial Adhesion; Bacterial Proteins; Blotting, Western; Cell Wall; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Fibrinogen; Fibronectins; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Humans; Keratins; Pyoderma; Staphylococcal Skin Infections; Staphylococcus

Bacterial adhesion is a key step in colonization of the skin. Staphylococcus intermedius adheres strongly to canine and feline corneocytes, and adhesion is greater to corneocytes from dogs affected with atopic dermatitis, but comparatively little is known about adhesion-receptor interaction compared to S. aureus. The aim of this study was to compare the binding of S. intermedius isolates from healthy (n = 21) and atopic dogs (n = 33) to immobilized human fibronectin and epidermal cytokeratin and canine fibrinogen in vitro. Staphylococcus intermedius and the positive control S. aureus P1 exhibited concentration-dependent binding to all three protein layers. The negative control S. aureus Newman strain and S. hominis did not bind. The majority of S. intermedius isolates adhered strongly, and there was no significant difference between isolates from atopic and healthy dogs or from lesional or nonlesional skin of atopic dogs (fibronectin P = 0.971 and 0.837; fibrinogen P = 0.811 and 0.564; cytokeratin P = 0.409 and 0.564). These results suggest that S. intermedius may possess specific microbial components recognizing adhesive matrix molecules, like S. aureus, that bind to the substrates used in this study. Adherence and therefore colonization and infection in canine atopic dermatitis, however, are more likely to be related to host factors rather than the possession of specific virulence factors.

Topics: Animals; Bacterial Adhesion; Cats; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Fibrinogen; Fibronectins; Humans; Keratins; Protein Binding; Staphylococcal Skin Infections; Staphylococcus

Several clinical syndromes are characterized by ectodermal dysplasia (ED) in association with clefting of the lip and/or palate. In these syndromes, alopecia is primarily due to abnormalities of the hair shaft associated with increased hair fragility. Scalp dermatitis is yet another peculiar finding, primarily seen in the ankyloblepharon-ED-clefting (AEC) syndrome. We report on a 16-year-old patient with ectrodactyly-ED-clefting (EEC) syndrome, who exhibited a scarring alopecia due to deep folliculitis. On scanning electron microscopy, irregular torsion and longitudinal grooving of the hair shaft (pili torti et canaliculi) were observed. Quantitative determinations of the elastic and viscous parameters of hair demonstrated a normal viscosity but a significantly reduced hair elasticity, indicating either an abnormal composition or a disordered arrangement of microfibrils within the apparently normal keratin matrix. In contrast to the erosive scalp dermatitis of early onset in the AEC syndrome, alopecia in this case of EEC syndrome demonstrated follicular scarring with onset during puberty. We question a possible role of the anatomical hair abnormality in the pathogenesis of chronic deep folliculitis in this and clinically related syndromes.

Topics: Adolescent; Alopecia; Biophysical Phenomena; Biophysics; Cicatrix; Cleft Lip; Cleft Palate; Dermatomycoses; Ectodermal Dysplasia; Elasticity; Fingers; Folliculitis; Hair; Humans; Keratins; Malassezia; Male; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Puberty; Scalp Dermatoses; Staphylococcal Skin Infections; Syndrome; Viscosity

Cutaneous horns usually represent compacted keratin arising from an underlying pathologic process and are important to dermatologists because they may indicate an underlying malignancy. The differential diagnosis of cutaneous horns includes pseudohorns, which have the morphologic appearance of a cutaneous horn but consist entirely of benign or malignant tumor. We describe a second type of pseudohorn consisting of hair, dried serum, and inflammatory exudate that was associated with an underlying basal cell carcinoma.

Topics: Carcinoma, Basal Cell; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Humans; Keratins; Middle Aged; Skin; Skin Neoplasms; Staphylococcal Skin Infections