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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2008, p. 2842-2847, Vol. 46, No. 9
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00521-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Epidemiology of Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Global Clinical Trials

Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska 68178,¹ Department of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases Center of Excellence in Drug Discovery,² Evolutionary and Structural Bioinformatics,³ Infectious Diseases Medicine Development Center,⁵ Core Discovery Technology Group, GlaxoSmithKline, 1250 South Collegeville Road, Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426,⁶ Evolutionary and Structural Bioinformatics, GlaxoSmithKline, 5 Moore Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709,⁴ Infectious Diseases Medicine Development Center, GlaxoSmithKline, Greenford, United Kingdom⁷

Received 17 March 2008/ Returned for modification 25 April 2008/ Accepted 30 June 2008

Determining the genetic characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus is important for better understanding of the global and dynamic epidemiology of this organism as we witness the emergence and spread of virulent and antibiotic-resistant clones. We genotyped 292 S. aureus isolates (105 methicillin resistant and 187 methicillin susceptible) using a combination of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, multilocus sequence typing, and SCCmec typing. In addition, S. aureus isolates were tested for the presence of the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes. Isolates were recovered from patients with uncomplicated skin infections in 10 different countries during five phase III global clinical trials of retapamulin, a new topical antibiotic agent. The most common methicillin-resistant clone had multilocus sequence type 8, pulsed-field type USA300, and SCCmec type IV and possessed the PVL genes. This clone was isolated exclusively in the United States. The most common PVL-positive, methicillin-susceptible clone had multilocus sequence type 121 and pulsed-field type USA1200. This clone was found primarily in South Africa and the Russian Federation. Other clones were found at lower frequencies and were limited in their geographic distribution. Overall, considerable genetic diversity was observed within multilocus sequence type clonal complexes and pulsed-field types.

Published ahead of print on 9 July 2008.