Presence of genes encoding the panton-valentine leukocidin exotoxin is not the primary determinant of outcome in patients with complicated skin and skin structure infections due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: results of a multinational trial.

The role of Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) in determining the severity and outcome of complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI) caused by methicillin (meticillin)-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is controversial. We evaluated potential associations between clinical outcome and PVL status by using MRSA isolates from patients enrolled in two large, multinational phase three clinical trials assessing telavancin for the treatment of cSSSI (the ATLAS program). MRSA isolates from microbiologically evaluable patients were genotyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and PCR for pvl and 31 other putative virulence determinants. A single baseline pathogen of MRSA was isolated from 522 microbiologically evaluable patients (25.1%) among 2,079 randomized patients. Of these MRSA isolates, 83.2% (432/519) exhibited the USA300 PFGE genotype and 89.1% (465/522) were pvl positive. Patients with pvl-positive MRSA were more likely than those with pvl-negative MRSA to be young, to be North American, and to present with major abscesses (P < 0.001 for each). Patients were significantly more likely to be cured if they were infected with pvl-positive MRSA than if they were infected with pvl-negative MRSA (91.6% versus 80.7%; P = 0.015). This observation remained statistically significant after adjustment for presence of abscess, fever, or leukocytosis; infection size; diabetes; patient age; and study medication received. The fnbA, cna, sdrC, map-eap, sed, seg, sei, sej, SCCmec type IV, and agr group II genes were also associated with clinical response (P < 0.05). This contemporary, international study demonstrates that pvl was not the primary determinant of outcome in patients with MRSA cSSSI.

Associations between the genotypes of Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream isolates and clinical characteristics and outcomes of bacteremic patients.

We investigated associations between the genotypic and phenotypic features of Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream isolates and the clinical characteristics of bacteremic patients enrolled in a phase III trial of S. aureus bacteremia and endocarditis. Isolates underwent pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, PCR for 33 putative virulence genes, and screening for heteroresistant glycopeptide intermediate S. aureus (hGISA). A total of 230 isolates (141 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus and 89 methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA]) were analyzed. North American and European S. aureus isolates differed in their genotypic characteristics. Overall, 26% of the MRSA bloodstream isolates were USA 300 strains. Patients with USA 300 MRSA bacteremia were more likely to be injection drug users (61% versus 15%; P < 0.001), to have right-sided endocarditis (39% versus 9%; P = 0.002), and to be cured of right-sided endocarditis (100% versus 33%; P = 0.01) than patients with non-USA 300 MRSA bacteremia. Patients with persistent bacteremia were less likely to be infected with Panton-Valentine leukocidin gene (pvl)-constitutive MRSA (19% versus 56%; P = 0.005). Although 7 of 89 MRSA isolates (8%) exhibited the hGISA phenotype, no association with persistent bacteremia, daptomycin resistance, or bacterial genotype was observed. This study suggests that the virulence gene profiles of S. aureus bloodstream isolates from North America and Europe differ significantly. In this study of bloodstream isolates collected as part of a multinational randomized clinical trial, USA 300 and pvl-constitutive MRSA strains were associated with better clinical outcomes.

Genotypic characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from a multinational trial of complicated skin and skin structure infections.

The impact of bacterial genetic characteristics on the outcome of patients with Staphylococcus aureus infections is uncertain. This investigation evaluated potential associations between bacterial genotype and clinical outcome using isolates collected as part of an international phase 2 clinical trial (FAST II) evaluating telavancin for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI). Ninety S. aureus isolates from microbiologically evaluable patients with cSSSI enrolled in the FAST II trial from 11 sites in the United States (56 isolates, or 62%) and 7 sites in South Africa (34 isolates, or 38%) were examined for staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec, agr, and the presence of 31 virulence genes and subjected to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). South African methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates were more likely to carry certain virulence genes, including sdrD (P = 0.01), sea (P < 0.01), and pvl (P = 0.01). All 44 (49%) methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates were from the United States; 37 (84%) were strain USA 300 by PFGE. In the United States, MRSA isolates were more likely than MSSA isolates to carry genes for sdrC (P = 0.03), map/eap (P = 0.05), fnbB (P = 0.11), tst (P = 0.02), sea (P = 0.04), sed (P = 0.04), seg (P = 0.11), sej (P = 0.11), agr (P = 0.09), V8 (P = 0.06), sdrD, sdrE, eta, etb, and see (P < 0.01 for all). MRSA isolates were more often clonal than MSSA isolates by PFGE. Isolates from patients who were cured were significantly more likely to contain the pvl gene than isolates from patients that failed or had indeterminate outcomes (79/84 [94%] versus 3/6 [50%]; P = 0.01). S. aureus strains from different geographic regions have different distributions of virulence genes.