Open AccessEffect of mupirocin for Staphylococcus aureus decolonization on the microbiome of the nose and throat in community and nursing home dwelling adults
Author(s) -
Mary-Claire Roghmann,
Alison Lydecker,
Michelle Shardell,
Robert T. DeBoy,
J. Kristie Johnson,
Long Zhao,
Lauren Hittle,
Emmanuel F. Mongodin
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0252004
Subject(s) - mupirocin , staphylococcus aureus , nose , throat , medicine , staphylococcus epidermidis , pharynx , microbiology and biotechnology , microbiome , human microbiome , staphylococcal infections , staphylococcus , nasal administration , methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus , surgery , biology , bacteria , immunology , bioinformatics , genetics , disease
Objective To characterize the microbial communities of the anterior nares (nose) and posterior pharynx (throat) of adults dwelling in the community and in nursing homes before and after treatment with intranasal mupirocin. Methods Staphylococcus aureus -colonized adults were recruited from the community (n = 25) and from nursing homes (n = 7). S . aureus colonization was confirmed using cultures. Participants had specimens taken from nose and throat for S . aureus quantitation using quantitative PCR for the nuc gene and bacterial profiling using 16S rRNA gene sequencing over 12 weeks. After two baseline study visits 4 weeks apart, participants received intranasal mupirocin for 5 days with 3 further visits over a 8 week follow-up period. Results We found a decrease in the absolute abundance of S . aureus in the nose for 8 weeks after mupirocin (1693 vs 141 fg/ul, p = 0.047). Mupirocin caused a statistically significant disruption in bacterial communities of the nose and throat after 1 week, which was no longer detected after 8 weeks. Bacterial community profiling demonstrated that there was a decrease in the relative abundance of S . aureus (8% vs 0.3%, p<0.01) 8 weeks after mupirocin and a transient decrease in the relative abundance of Staphylococcus epidermidis in the nose (21% vs 5%, p<0.01) 1 week after mupirocin. Conclusions Decolonization with mupirocin leads to a sustained effect on absolute and relative abundance of S . aureus but not for other bacteria in the nose. This demonstrates that a short course of mupirocin selectively decreases S . aureus in the nose for up to 8 weeks.