Abstract
BackgroundBacterial contamination remains the major problem in skin banks, even after antimicrobial treatment, and results in high rates of tissue discarding. This study aimed to analyze bacterial contamination in 32 human skin allografts from the skin bank of Dr. Roberto Corrêa Chem from the Hospital Complex Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre. These samples were already discarded due to microbial contamination. The identification of the bacteria isolated from skin allografts was performed by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates to six different classes of antimicrobials was determined using the disk-diffusion agar method, and the evaluation of the inhibitory potential was determined by the minimal inhibitory concentration (50/90) of antimicrobials already used in the skin bank and those that most isolates were susceptible to.ResultsA total of 21 (65.6%) skin samples were contaminated with Gram-positive bacteria: 1 (4.7%) with Paenibacillus sp., 12 (61.9%) with Bacillus sp., 6 (28.5%) with Staphylococcus sp., and 2 (9.5%) with Bacillus sp. and Staphylococcus sp. Several resistance profiles, including multiresistance, were found among the isolates. Most of the isolates were susceptible to at least one of the antimicrobials used in the skin bank. All isolates were susceptible to amikacin, gentamicin, and tetracycline, which demonstrated the best inhibitory activities against the isolates and were considered as potential candidates for new antimicrobial treatments.ConclusionsBacillus, Paenibacillus, and Staphylococcus were isolated from the skin allografts, thus demonstrating the predominance of Gram-positive bacteria contamination. Other factors not related to the resistance phenotype may also be involved in the persistence of bacterial isolates in the skin allografts after antibiotic treatment. Gentamicin, amikacin, and tetracycline can be considered as an option for a more effective treatment cocktail.
Highlights
Bacterial contamination remains the major problem in skin banks, even after antimicrobial treatment, and results in high rates of tissue discarding
Susceptibility profile to antimicrobials The antimicrobial susceptibility profile was evaluated in two isolates with equal colony morphology among those isolated from each medium, totaling in 195 Gram-positive bacilli and 124 Gram-positive cocci analyzed
All Gram-positive bacilli were susceptible to ciprofloxacin μg (CIP), amikacin μg (AMI), gentamicin μg (GEN), and tetracycline μg (TET), and 92 (48.7%) of these were susceptible to all other antimicrobials tested (Table 2)
Summary
Bacterial contamination remains the major problem in skin banks, even after antimicrobial treatment, and results in high rates of tissue discarding. This study aimed to analyze bacterial contamination in 32 human skin allografts from the skin bank of Dr Roberto Corrêa Chem from the Hospital Complex Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre. These samples were already discarded due to microbial contamination. The use of homologous skin grafts decreases the risk of infection, wound pain, and the frequency of dressing changes as it acts as a mechanical and biological barrier to reduce the loss of water, proteins, electrolytes, and heat through the Microbial contamination is the main reason for tissue discharge in tissue banks [3]. Skin banks are responsible for ensuring a safe availability of skin for grafting by performing microbiological screening before and after processing the allogeneic skin
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