FIBRONECTIN ON THE SURFACE OF BILIARY DRAIN MATERIALS - A ROLE IN BACTERIAL ADHERENCE

The present study deals with the demonstration of deposited fibronecti n (Fn) on the surfaces of implanted biliary drain materials and the ro le of deposited Fn in promotion of bacterial adherence. Rubber pieces that had been implanted in the biliary tracts of rats for 4 weeks were retrieved and the following approaches employed for further investiga tions: (1) adherence of [methyl-H-3]thymidine-labeled Escherichia coli to implanted and unimplanted rubber pieces; (2) blocking the adherenc e of radiolabeled bacteria with anti-Fn antibodies; (3) detection of d eposited Fn by I-125-labeled anti-Fn IgG; and (4) immunoblotting of th e surface eluate from implanted rubber pieces. The results show that i n the presence of serum, plasma, or bile, the number of E. coli cells adherent to implanted rubber pieces was 10 times higher than that adhe rent to the unimplanted pieces (P < 0.001) and that the adherence was reduced by pretreatment of implanted pieces with anti-Fn antibodies. F urthermore, the implanted pieces appeared to have a high affinity for I-125-labeled rabbit anti-Fn IgG rather than the I-125-IgG without ant i-Fn fraction. Fn was also found in the surface eluate of implanted pi eces by immunoblotting of the eluate. The results in the present study suggest that Fn may be involved in implant-associated infections in t he biliary tract. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.