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Spinal MRI, sagittal section: Hyperintensity, T11-T12-L1 vertebrae, para-vertebral soft tissue, and T12-L1 disc consistent with infectious spondylodiscitis. a T1-weighted; b, c, d IDEAL sequence

Spinal MRI, sagittal section: Hyperintensity, T11-T12-L1 vertebrae, para-vertebral soft tissue, and T12-L1 disc consistent with infectious spondylodiscitis. a T1-weighted; b, c, d IDEAL sequence

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Background: Staphylococcus saccharolyticus is a rarely encountered coagulase-negative, which grows slowly and its strictly anaerobic staphylococcus from the skin. It is usually considered a contaminant, but some rare reports have described deep-seated infections. Virulence factors remain poorly known, although, genomic analysis highlights pathogen...

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... Staphylococcus saccharolyticus (previously Peptococcus saccharolyticus): this anaerobic coagulase-negative staphylococcus has been isolated from a limited number of cases of shoulder and hip PJI and spinal IAI (Trojani et al., 2020;Evans et al., 1978;Pumberger et al., 2019;Brüggemann et al., 2019;Söderquist et al., 2021). ...
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Slow-growing Gram-positive anaerobic bacteria (SGAB) such as Cutibacterium acnes are increasingly recognized as causative agents of implant-associated infections (IAIs) in orthopaedic surgeries. SGAB IAIs are difficult to diagnose because of their non-specific clinical and laboratory findings as well as the fastidious growth conditions required by these bacteria. A high degree of clinical suspicion and awareness of the various available diagnostic methods is therefore important. This review gives an overview of the current knowledge regarding SGAB IAI, providing details about clinical features and available diagnostic methodologies. In recent years, new methods for the diagnosis of IAI were developed, but there is limited knowledge about their usefulness in SGAB IAI. Further studies are required to determine the ideal diagnostic methodology to identify these infections so that they are not overlooked and mistakenly classified as aseptic failure.
... For S. saccharolyticus-of note, the only anaerobic CoNS-more than a dozen clinical cases have been reported. Several of these cases were foreign body-related infections, but also cases without any indwelling medical devices have been documented [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. Only single case reports for the more recently described species S. massiliensis, S. petrasii subsp. ...
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Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are among the most frequently recovered bacteria in routine clinical care. Their incidence has steadily increased over the past decades in parallel to the advancement in medicine, especially in regard to the utilization of foreign body devices. Many new species have been described within the past years, while clinical information to most of those species is still sparse. In addition, interspecies differences that render some species more virulent than others have to be taken into account. The distinct populations in which CoNS infections play a prominent role are preterm neonates, patients with implanted medical devices, immunodeficient patients, and those with other relevant comorbidities. Due to the property of CoNS to colonize the human skin, contamination of blood cultures or other samples occurs frequently. Hence, the main diagnostic hurdle is to correctly identify the cases in which CoNS are causative agents rather than contaminants. However, neither phenotypic nor genetic tools have been able to provide a satisfying solution to this problem. Another dilemma of CoNS in clinical practice pertains to their extensive antimicrobial resistance profile, especially in healthcare settings. Therefore, true infections caused by CoNS most often necessitate the use of second-line antimicrobial drugs.
... In the literature, approximately 10 clinical cases associated with or caused by S. saccharolyticus have been reported. These include three cases of spondylodiscitis [4][5][6] and two cases of infectious endocarditis-one case of native [7] and one case of prosthetic valve endocarditis [8]. Other cases include pyomyositis [9], pneumonia [10], empyema [11], and a case with a bone marrow infection [12]. ...
... Co-morbidity was present in only two of our cases; diabetes mellitus and prostate cancer. This is in accordance with the review of Trojani et al. [6], where only three out of nine previously reported cases displayed any host risk factors. According to the same review, three reported cases had affected bone and joint (i.e., spondylodiscitis), and two had been associated with foreign body materials. ...
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The anaerobic coagulase-negative staphylococcal species Staphylococcus saccharolyticus is a member of the normal skin microbiota. However, S. saccharolyticus is rarely found in clinical specimens and its pathogenic potential is unclear. The clinical data of prosthetic hip (n = 5) and shoulder (n = 2) joint implant-associated infections where S. saccharolyticus was detected in periprosthetic tissue specimens are described. The prosthetic hip joint infection cases presented as “aseptic” loosening and may represent chronic, insidious, low-grade prosthetic joint infections (PJIs), eventually resulting in loosening of prosthetic components. All cases were subjected to one-stage revision surgery and the long-term outcome was good. The shoulder joint infections had an acute onset. Polymicrobial growth, in all cases with Cutibacterium acnes, was found in 4/7 patients. All but one case were treated with long-term administration of beta-lactam antibiotics. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of the isolates was performed and potential virulence traits were identified. WGS could distinguish two phylogenetic clades (clades 1 and 2), which likely represent distinct subspecies of S. saccharolyticus. Little strain individuality was observed among strains from the same clade. Strains of clade 2 were exclusively associated with hip PJIs, whereas clade 1 strains originated from shoulder PJIs. It is possible that strains of the two clades colonize different skin habitats. In conclusion, S. saccharolyticus has the potential to cause PJIs that were previously regarded as aseptic loosening of prosthetic joint devices.
... S taphylococcus saccharolyticus is a coagulase-negative staphylococcal species that is found on normal human skin (1,2). The species is occasionally associated with infections such as sepsis, prosthetic joint infection (PJI), spondylodiscitis, and other infections (3)(4)(5)(6). ...
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Staphylococcus saccharolyticus is a human skin bacterium and is occasionally associated with prosthetic joint infections (PJIs). Here, we report the complete genome sequences of two strains that were isolated from shoulder and hip PJIs. The genomes show signs of reductive evolution; around 21% of all coding sequences are inactivated by frameshift mutations.
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Staphylococcus saccharolyticus, a coagulase-negative staphylococcal species, has some unusual characteristics for human-associated staphylococci, such as slow growth and its preference for anoxic culture conditions. This species is a relatively abundant member of the human skin microbiota, but its microbiological properties, as well as the pathogenic potential, have scarcely been investigated so far, despite being occasionally isolated from different types of infections including orthopedic implant-associated infections. Here, we investigated the growth and biofilm properties of clinical isolates of S. saccharolyticus and determined host cell responses. Growth assessments in anoxic and oxic conditions revealed strain-dependent outcomes, as some strains can also grow aerobically. All tested strains of S. saccharolyticus were able to form biofilm in a microtiter plate assay. Strain-dependent differences were determined by optical coherence tomography, revealing that medium supplementation with glucose and sodium chloride enhanced biofilm formation. Visualization of the biofilm by confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed the role of extracellular DNA in the biofilm structure. In addition to attached biofilms, S. saccharolyticus also formed bacterial aggregates at an early stage of growth. Transcriptome analysis of biofilm-grown versus planktonic cells revealed a set of upregulated genes in biofilm-embedded cells, including factors involved in adhesion, colonization, and competition such as epidermin, type I toxin-antitoxin system, and phenol-soluble modulins (beta and epsilon). To investigate consequences for the host after encountering S. saccharolyticus , cytokine profiling and host cell viability were assessed by infection experiments with differentiated THP-1 cells. The microorganism strongly triggered the secretion of the tested pro-inflammatory cyto- and chemokines IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha, determined at 24 h post-infection. S. saccharolyticus was less cytotoxic than Staphylococcus aureus . Taken together, the results indicate that S. saccharolyticus has substantial pathogenic potential. Thus, it can be a potential cause of orthopedic implant-associated infections and other types of deep-seated infections.
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Objectives The contributing factors for spondylitis after percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) or percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) remain unclear. Here, we sought to investigate the factors affecting spondylitis occurrence after PVP/PKP. We also compared the clinical characteristics between patients with tuberculous spondylitis (TS) and nontuberculous spondylitis (NTS) following vertebral augmentation.Methods Literature searches (from January 1, 1982 to October 16, 2020) using MEDLINE, EMBASE, Google Scholar and Web of science databases were conducted to identify eligible studies according to predefined criteria. The local database was also retrospectively reviewed to include additional TS and NTS patients at our center.ResultsThirty studies from the literature and 11 patients from our local institute were identified, yielding a total of 23 TS patients and 50 NTS patients for analysis. Compared with NTS group, patients in the TS group were more likely to have a history of trauma before PVP/PKP treatment. Univariate analyses of risk factors revealed pulmonary tuberculosis and diabetes were significant factors for TS after PVP/PKP. Analyzing NTS, we found obesity, a history of preoperative trauma, urinary tract infection, diabetes and multiple surgical segments (≥2) were significantly associated with its occurrence following PVP/PKP treatment. Multivariate logistic analyses showed a history of pulmonary tuberculosis and diabetes were independent risk factors for TS after PVP/PKP, while diabetes and the number of surgically treated segments independently influenced NTS development.ConclusionsA history of pulmonary tuberculosis and diabetes were independent risk factors for TS. For NTS, diabetes and the number of surgically treated segments significantly influenced the occurrence of postoperative spinal infection. These data may be helpful for guiding risk stratification and preoperative prevention for patients, thereby reducing the incidence of vertebral osteomyelitis after PVP/PKP.