Nicotine promotes Staphylococcus aureus-induced osteomyelitis by activating the Nrf2/Slc7a11 signaling axis

Although smoking is a significant risk factor for osteomyelitis, there is limited experimental evidence that nicotine, a key tobacco constituent, is associated with this condition, leaving its mechanistic implications uncharacterized. This study revealed that nicotine promotes Staphylococcus aureus-induced osteomyelitis by increasing Nrf2 and Slc7a11 expression in vivo and in vitro. Inhibition of Slc7a11 using Erastin augmented bacterial phagocytosis/killing capabilities and fortified antimicrobial responses in an osteomyelitis model. Moreover, untargeted metabolomic analysis demonstrated that Erastin mitigated the effects of nicotine on S. aureus-induced osteomyelitis by altering glutamate/glutathione metabolism. These findings suggest that nicotine aggravates S. aureus-induced osteomyelitis by activating the Nrf2/Slc7a11 signaling pathway and that Slc7a11 inhibition can counteract the detrimental health effects of nicotine.