FIG 9.

Gross appearance and scores for longitudinal sections of the femurs of rats at the time of sacrifice and microbiological evaluation of the implants and bones. (A) Clinical signs of infection in the intramedullary cavity with a Ti implant are shown as yellow pus formation compared to the physiological appearance of the intramedullary cavity with a Ti implant without bacterial contamination after longitudinal sectioning of the femur. The femur implanted with Ti-P-EN appeared to be free of infection. (B) The in vivo efficacy of Ti-P-EN discs against MRSA was also investigated quantitatively. The scores for the Ti-P-EN group were significantly lower than those for the Ti groups. *, P < 0.05. (C and D) The spread plate method was used to characterize MRSA colonization on the control Ti and Ti-P-EN implants in a murine model of biomaterial-associated infection by counting of the number of CFU. (E and F) The spread plate method was used to quantify the MRSA bacteria located in the tissue surrounding the control Ti and Ti-P-EN implants. The bacterial counts were normalized to log values. All data represent means ± standard errors of the means from three independent experiments. *, P < 0.05.