Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 9, 2026
Animal Model of Implant-Associated Infections in Mice
Published on: June 27, 2025
Active and Passive Immunization Against Staphylococcus aureus Periprosthetic Osteomyelitis in Rats
Niels H Søe1, Nina Vendel Jensen2, Asger Lundorff Jensen3
1Hand Section, Department of Orthopaedics, Herlev and Gentofte University Hospital, Hellerup, Denmark Niels.Soee.Nielsen@regionh.dk.
Background/Aim:
Staphylococcus aureus infection associated with orthopedic implants cannot always be controlled. We used a knee prosthesis model with implant-related osteomyelitis in rats to explore induction of an effective immune response with active and passive immunization.
Materials And Methods:
Fifty-two Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into active (N=28) and passive immunization groups (N=24). A bacterial inoculum of 103 S. aureus MN8 was injected into the tibia and the femur marrow before insertion of a non-constrained knee prosthesis in each rat. The active-immunization group received a synthetic oligosaccharide of polysaccharide poly-N-acetylglucosamine (PNAG), 9G1cNH2 and the passive-immunization group received immunization with immunoglobulin from rabbits infected with S. aureus.
Results/Conclusion:
Active immunization against PNAG significantly reduced the consequences of osteomyelitis infection from PNAG-producing intercellular adhesion (ica+) but not ica- S. aureus. Passive immunization resulted in better clinical assessments in animals challenged with either ica+ or ica- S. aureus, suggesting a lack of specificity in this antiserum.
