The attachment of the carrier strain of S. aureus is significantly reduced in comparison to the non-carrier strain by prestimulation of NEC with IL-1β. Nasal epithelial cell layers, which had been cultured at the air–liquid interphase in an antibiotic-free medium, were prestimulated with 10 ng/ml IL-1β. The cell layers were inoculated with 38 ± 4 (mean ± SEM) bacteria/well to assess their growth dynamics. The organisms used were S. aureus D30 (SA D30), S. aureus 930918 (SA 930918), and S. epidermidis (SE). The apical surface of NEC layers was washed after 4 hr and then sonicated to detach bacteria, which were subsequently enumerated on TSA. The results represent the mean ± SEM of quadruplicate experiments.