Staphylococcus saprophyticus
Definitions & Key takeaways
Staphylococcus saprophyticus is a round, gram-positive, catalase-positive, coagulase-negative, urease-positive, and novobiocin-resistant bacterium, which is known to be part of the normal flora of the perineum. It is known to cause urinary tract infections, and can also cause the formation of struvite urinary stones.
S. saprophyticus can also colonize indwelling medical devices, where it forms adherent biofilms on medical implants, typically indwelling urinary catheters. Biofilms make it difficult for antibiotics to reach the bacteria, so the infection is more difficult to treat. Treatment relies on antibiotics like nitrofurantoin, or a combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole, as well as removing infected indwelling devices.
With Staphylococcus saprophyticus, sometimes called Staph saprophyticus, “staph” means grapes, “coccus” means round-shape, while “saprophyticus” refers to organisms that grow on decaying organic material.
So, Staphylococcus saprophyticus are round bacteria that tend to live in grape-like clusters, and are commonly found on contaminated meat products.
Now, a little bit of microbe anatomy and physiology. Staph saprophyticus has a thick peptidoglycan cell wall, which takes in purple dye when Gram stained - so this is a gram-positive bacteria.
It’s non-motile and doesn’t form spores, and also, it’s a facultative anaerobe, meaning that it can live with or without oxygen.
Staph saprophyticus is catalase positive, so it makes an enzyme called catalase. We can use this to differentiate Staph saprophyticus from other gram positive cocci, like streptococci and enterococci, which are catalase negative.
To test for this, a few drops of hydrogen peroxide are added to the colony of the suspected bacteria. So, if catalase is present, like in staph saprophyticus, it makes hydrogen peroxide dissociate into water and oxygen, making the mixture foam.
Staph saprophyticus is also urease positive, meaning it produces an enzyme called urease that dissociates urea into carbon dioxide and ammonia.
This can be tested by transferring a pure sample of bacteria from the culture to a sterile tube containing a mixture of “urea agar” broth and phenol red.
Then, the mixture is incubated. So, with Staph saprophyticus, urease makes urea dissociate into carbon dioxide and ammonia.
Ammonia then makes the mixture change color from orange-yellow to bright pink. This doesn’t happen with urease negative Gram-positive cocci, like Streptococcus pneumoniae or Enterococcus faecalis.
Furthermore, unlike many Staphylococcus species, Staph saprophyticus and its close relative, Staph epidermidis, are both coagulase negative, meaning they don’t produce an enzyme called coagulase.
Testing for coagulase is done by transferring a colony of the suspected bacteria in test tube containing fibrinogen-rich plasma.
Coagulase-positive bacteria, like Staph aureus, convert the soluble fibrinogen into sticky fibrin, which then visibly clumps up.
With coagulase negative species, like Staph saprophyticus or Staph epidermidis, the fibrin doesn’t clump up. Finally, to distinguish Staph saprophyticus from Staph epidermidis, the novobiocin test is done.
This is when a disk imbued with Novobiocin, an antibiotic, is added to the culture. Staph saprophyticus is novobiocin resistant, so the colonies remain intact, whereas Staph epidermidis is novobiocin sensitive, so the colonies die off.
Alright, now, people get Staph saprophyticus by eating contaminated meat - but this doesn’t cause gastrointestinal disease.
Instead, from the gut, bacteria gets to the rectum, anus and eventually colonizes the perineum, becoming part of the normal flora.
From the perineum, it can colonize the vagina, where it doesn’t cause any issues, or the urethra, where it can cause a urinary tract infection, or UTI.
In fact, Staph saprophyticus is the second most common cause of UTI after Escherichia coli.You see, the urinary PH is normally acidic, so it’s not favorable for bacteria growth.
But as soon as Staph saprophyticus gets into the urinary system, it uses urease to hydrolyze urea into carbon dioxide and ammonia, which is an alkali.
This may lead to the formation of urinary stones called struvite, which can cause urine outflow obstruction. Staph saprophyticus can also form adherent biofilms on medical implants, typically the indwelling urinary catheters.
A biofilm is basically a layer of “slime” made of exopolysaccharides or EPS, within which Staph saprophyticus live and reproduce.Comparing a biofilm to strawberry jam, the seeds would be the bacteria and the rest of the jam would be the EPS.
Biofilms make it difficult for antibiotics to reach the bacteria, so the infection is more difficult to treat. Staph saprophyticus infections can be treated with antibiotics like nitrofurantoin, or a combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole.
Additionally, indwelling medical devices should be removed and replaced when there is suspicion of biofilms. ##Summary Alright, as a quick recap… Staphylococcus saprophyticus is round, gram-positive, facultative anaerobic, non-motile, non-spore forming, catalase positive, coagulase negative, urease positive, and novobiocin resistant bacterium, which is known to be part of the normal flora of the perineum.
It is the 2nd most common cause of UTIs after E.coli, and can also cause formation of struvite urinary stones. In can also colonize indwelling medical devices, where it forms biofilms.
Treatment relies on antibiotics like nitrofurantoin, or a combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole, as well as
No notes for this video yet
Try adding a note below