ABSTRACT
Our investigation of indoor-housed cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) by using automated identification followed by antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed 1 of 7 immunocompetent animals and 2 of 9 immunosuppressed monkeys as carriers of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Follow-up management involving mupirocin treatment resulted in the conversion of the 3 MRSA carriers into MRSA-negative cases. Prospective assessment of newly imported monkeys involving 24-h culture of nasal swabs on chromogenic agar revealed that 22% (18 of 82 animals) were MRSA-positive. Mupirocin treatment successfully converted all of the MRSA-positive macaques into non-carriers, suggesting the feasibility of this simple, one-step screening procedure for rapidly identifying MRSA carriers in large cohorts. In addition, 8 animals that had been diagnosed MRSA-positive and subsequently treated with mupirocin demonstrated no recolonization during follow-up, even under immunosuppressive conditions. We propose rapid screening using chromogenic agar followed by mupirocin treatment as a time- and cost-effective regimen for managing MRSA in cynomolgus monkeys.
Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/drug effects , Monkey Diseases/drug therapy , Mupirocin/pharmacology , Staphylococcal Infections/veterinary , Animals , Feasibility Studies , Host-Pathogen Interactions , Immunocompetence , Immunocompromised Host , Macaca fascicularis , Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/growth & development , Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/immunology , Microbial Sensitivity Tests/veterinary , Monkey Diseases/immunology , Monkey Diseases/microbiology , Nasal Cavity/microbiology , Staphylococcal Infections/drug therapy , Staphylococcal Infections/immunology , Staphylococcal Infections/microbiologyABSTRACT
Thorough examination of ABO blood type in cynomolgus monkeys is an essential experimental step to prevent humoral rejection during transplantation research. In the present study, we evaluated current methods of ABO blood-antigen typing in cynomolgus monkeys by comparing the outcomes obtained by reverse hemagglutination, single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis, and buccal mucosal immunohistochemistry. Among 21 animals, 5 were type A regardless of the method. However, of 8 serologically type B animals, 3 had a heterozygous type AB SNP profile, among which 2 failed to express A antigen, as shown by immunohistochemical analysis. Among 8 serologically type AB animals, 2 appeared to be type A by SNP analysis and immunohistochemistry. None of the methods identified any type O subjects. We conclude that the expression of ABO blood-group antigens is regulated by an incompletely understood process and that using both SNP and immunohistochemistry might minimize the risk of incorrect results obtained from the conventional hemagglutination assay.
