A Mouse Model of Multi-Drug Resistant Staphylococcus aureus-induced Ocular Disease.

PubMed ID: 27896297

Author(s): Broekema NM, Larsen IV, Naruzawa ES, Filutowicz M, Kolb AW, Teixeira LB, Brandt CR. A mouse model of multi-drug resistant staphylococcus aureus-induced ocular disease. J Ocul Biol. 2016 Nov;4(2). doi: 10.13188/2334-2838.1000026. Epub 2016 Nov 10. PMID 27896297

Journal: Journal Of Ocular Biology, Volume 4, Issue 2, Nov 2016

Staphylococcus aureus infection of the cornea is a significant threat to vision. The percentage of bacterial isolates resistant to antibiotics is increasing as is the percentage of infections caused by methicillin resistant isolates. There is a critical need for additional therapeutic approaches and their development will require the use of animal models to test efficacy. Two mouse models of S. aureus keratitis have been described but only quantified stromal keratitis (corneal clouding and perforation). We have extended these models using the methicillin resistant S. aureus USA300 LAC strain and show that eyelid inflammation and swelling (blepharitis) and corneal neovascularization can be quantified. This expanded model should prove useful in assessing additional effects of antibacterial therapies and additional pathological mechanisms involved in bacterial ocular infection.