Staphylococcus intermedius binding to immobilized fibrinogen, fibronectin and cytokeratin in vitro

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.