Fig. 4: Revision surgery reactivates S. aureus proliferation and virulence factor expression, triggering an inflammatory response and muscle fiber loss. | npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Fig. 4: Revision surgery reactivates S. aureus proliferation and virulence factor expression, triggering an inflammatory response and muscle fiber loss.

From: Surgical revision in the presence of an S. aureus infection increases virulence factor expression and activates a multi-tissue inflammatory response

Fig. 4

A Representative image of picrosirius red-stained muscle tissue 6 h, Day 4, and Day 14 post-revision. B Quantification of depth of fibrosis (µm) in infected 6 h (n = 6), Day 4 (n = 6), Day 14 (n = 5) rats compared to pre-revision (n = 7) determined from picrosirius-red-stained muscle sections. P-values determined using one-way ANOVA (p < 0.05). C Significantly upregulated gene ontology (GO) pathways from bulk RNA sequencing comparing infected rats at 6 h (n = 5) to infected rats pre-revision (n = 5). D Significantly downregulated GO pathways comparing infected rats at 6 h to infected rats pre-revision. E Representative images of muscle stained with Brown and Hopps. Bacteria marked with yellow arrows. F Histological scoring of bacterial localization and bacterial clumping score within the muscle. Analysis compares 6 h (n = 6), Day 4 (n = 7), Day 14 (n = 8). P-values determined using the Kruskal-Wallis test (p < 0.05). G Relative virulence factor expression in vivo comparing pre-revision (n = 4), 6 h (n = 2), Day 4 (n = 5), and Day 14 (n = 5). P-values determined by ordinary one-way ANOVA (p < 0.05).

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