Development of Real‐Time In Vivo Imaging of Device‐RelatedStaphylococcus epidermidisInfection in Mice and Influence of Animal Immune Status on Susceptibility to Infection

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Abstract
Staphylococcus epidermidis is the leading cause of hospital-acquired device-related infections, but there is a lack of suitable methods to investigate the pathogenesis of S. epidermidis infection. We created a bioluminescent strain of S. epidermidis and developed a subcutaneous catheter-related murine infection model for real-time monitoring of biofilm-associated infection. Additionally, we compared severely immunocompromised and immunocompetent mice, demonstrating the substantial effect of animal immune status on susceptibility to experimentally induced S. epidermidis disease. This study presents a novel approach for investigating the in vivo details of the pathogenesis of S. epidermidis infection.