ADHERENCE OF COAGULASE-NEGATIVE STAPHYLOCOCCI TO HEPARIN AND OTHER GLYCOSAMINOGLYCANS IMMOBILIZED ON POLYMER SURFACES

The adherence of clinical isolates of staphylococci to surfaces immobi lized with various glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) was studied. In general, cells of strains of coagulase-negative (CNS) staphylococci showed a gr eater adherence to polyethylene surfaces than did cells of Staphylococ cus aureus, as studied by bioluminescence. When the surface was hepari nized, the adherence of staphylococcal cells decreased, but CNS cells still adhered in greater numbers than did cells of S. aureus. The adhe rence of CNS to serum-coated heparinized surfaces was of the same magn itude, or increased compared with nonheparinized surfaces. When the su rfaces were preadsorbed with different proteins with known heparin-bin ding domains, i.e., vitronectin, fibronectin, laminin, or collagen, th e S. epidermidis cells showed higher binding to heparinized surfaces t han to nonheparinized ones, and also in greater numbers than did other staphylococcal cells. Different CNS strains showed a greater ability to agglutinate polystyrene beads immobilized with heparin than did S.a ureus. The adherence-of S.epidermidis strain 3380 to polyethylene coat ed with various GAGs such as heparin and chondroitin, dextran, dermata n, and heparan sulfate was shown to be pH-dependent, with the highest adherence at pH 7.2. This may indicate that CNS have the ability to bi nd to other domains of host proteins when they are adsorbed to heparin ized surfaces, versus to nonheparinized ones. (C) 1994 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.