Staphylococcus Aureus Adherence to Nasal Epithelial Cells: Studies of Some Parameters

Abstract

In many infectious processes, the initial event is the binding of organisms to host epithelial cells. The capacity to colonize the mucosa is proportional to the ability of bacteria to adhere.^7,12 In the past, the emphasis has been on understanding the factors involved in the pathogenesis of a disease, i.e., after the organism has invaded the host and clinical symptoms have become apparent. While the pathogenic aspects are eminently worthy of scientific inquiry, the mechanisms involved in the initial binding of bacteria to the epithelia were not seriously invetigated. The lack of knowledge in this field has been partly due to the lack of suitable models for studying the natural ecology of several pathogenic bacteria. Some experimental animals are susceptible to infection by human pathogens and, as a result, most of the studies in this field have relied upon systematic infections caused by intravenous or interperitoneal inoculation of the pathogens in question. Such studies have not taken into consideration the natural routes by which pathogenic organisms usually initiate an infectious cycle. Consequently, this aspect of biology has not been well-studied. The current in vitro model utilizing isolated epithelial cells and bacteria represents procedures that most closely resemble the human system, thus enbling us to study the bacterial and host factors independently.