Staphylococcus epidermidis is cleared from biomaterial implants but persists in peri‐implant tissue in mice despite rifampicin/vancomycin treatment

Abstract Infections associated with implanted biomedical devices (BAI) are predominantly caused by Staphylococcus epidermidis. We previously observed in murine experimental BAI that S. epidermidis persists in peri‐implant tissue rather than on the implanted biomaterial itself (Boelens et al., J Infect Dis 2000;181:1337–1349; Broekhuizen et al., Infect Immun 2007;75:1129–1136). To investigate the efficacy of rifampicin/vancomycin to clear S. epidermidis from implants and peri‐implant tissues, mice with two implants were challenged with 10⁷ cfu S. epidermidis per implant and received daily injections of rifampicin (25 mg/kg) and vancomycin (50 mg/kg). On the day of termination, implants and peri‐implant tissue were collected and processed for culture and histology. After 1 and 8 days, implants of control mice were culture positive in 14/18 and 5/16 cases, respectively, and tissue biopsies were all culture positive. In the antibiotic‐treated mice, bacteria were recovered from only 1/18 and 1/16 implants after 1 and 8 days, respectively, whereas the tissues were culture positive in 14/18 and 7/16 biopsies, respectively. In microscopy, bacteria were seen in the tissue at a distance of several cell layers from the tissue‐implant interface, colocalized with host cells. Thus, although a regimen of rifampicin/vancomycin sterilized the implants, S. epidermidis persisted in peri‐implant tissue, which might be an as yet unrecognized reservoir in the pathogenesis of BAI. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2008