TY - JOUR
T1 - Nonrandom Distribution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus in Chronic Wounds
AU - Fazli, Mustafa
AU - Bjarnsholt, Thomas
AU - Kirketerp-Møller, Klaus
AU - Jørgensen, Bo
AU - Andersen, Anders Schou
AU - Krogfelt, Karen A
AU - Givskov, Michael
AU - Tolker-Nielsen, Tim
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - The spatial organization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus in chronic wounds was investigated in the present study. Wound biopsy specimens were obtained from patients diagnosed as having chronic venous leg ulcers, and bacterial aggregates in these wounds were detected and located by the use of peptide nucleic acid-based fluorescence in situ hybridization and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). We acquired CLSM images of multiple regions in multiple sections cut from five wounds containing P. aeruginosa and five wounds containing S. aureus and measured the distance of the bacterial aggregates to the wound surface. The distance of the P. aeruginosa aggregates to the wound surface was significantly greater than that of the S. aureus aggregates, suggesting that the distribution of the bacteria in the chronic wounds was nonrandom. The results are discussed in relation to our recent finding that swab culturing techniques may underestimate the presence of P. aeruginosa in chronic wounds and in relation to the hypothesis that P. aeruginosa bacteria located in the deeper regions of chronic wounds may play an important role in keeping the wounds arrested in a stage dominated by inflammatory processes.
AB - The spatial organization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus in chronic wounds was investigated in the present study. Wound biopsy specimens were obtained from patients diagnosed as having chronic venous leg ulcers, and bacterial aggregates in these wounds were detected and located by the use of peptide nucleic acid-based fluorescence in situ hybridization and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). We acquired CLSM images of multiple regions in multiple sections cut from five wounds containing P. aeruginosa and five wounds containing S. aureus and measured the distance of the bacterial aggregates to the wound surface. The distance of the P. aeruginosa aggregates to the wound surface was significantly greater than that of the S. aureus aggregates, suggesting that the distribution of the bacteria in the chronic wounds was nonrandom. The results are discussed in relation to our recent finding that swab culturing techniques may underestimate the presence of P. aeruginosa in chronic wounds and in relation to the hypothesis that P. aeruginosa bacteria located in the deeper regions of chronic wounds may play an important role in keeping the wounds arrested in a stage dominated by inflammatory processes.
U2 - 10.1128/JCM.01395-09
DO - 10.1128/JCM.01395-09
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0095-1137
VL - 47
SP - 4084
EP - 4089
JO - Journal of Clinical Microbiology
JF - Journal of Clinical Microbiology
IS - 12
ER -