Effects of Silver Sulphadiazine on Production of Extracellular Proteins by Strains of Staphylococcus Aureus Isolated from Burns Wound

Previous studies had shown that sub-inhibitory concentrations of silver sulphadiazine (AgSD) stimulated the production of Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1 in certain strains (responder strains) of Staphylococcus aureus and that protease production was also affected. No changes were detected in other strains (non-responders). Extracellular proteins from eleven responder and non-responder strains grown with and without AgSD were separated by SDS PAGE. There were three classes of response, responder strains that showed enhancement of synthesis of certain proteins, non-responder strains that showed no change and responder strains that showed a general decrease in exoprotein production in the early stages of growth. The results showed that the effects of AgSD were complex and that S. aureus strains were heterogenous with respect to their response to sub-inhibitory concentrations of AgSD.