STAPHYLOCOCCUS VIRULENCE FACTORS AND THEIR CONNECTION TO MASTITIS

The study of the virulence factors of Staphylococcus aureus has always been relevant due to the fact that this microorganism is a pathogen of humans and animals, however, little is known about the virulence factors involved in the pathogenesis of mastitis. This review was written with the aim to study the influence of staphylococcal virulence factors in the development of mastitis disease and systematization of already available experimental information. It is also important to indicate the most common type of staphylococci that leads to the development of this disease. To explore this area and expand the field of knowledge, the methodology of bibliometric analysis was used and a qualitative systematic review of the literature in Google Scholar was conducted. In addition, the VOSviewer program was used to visualise current trends in research areas. In total, 261 articles were selected, selected and included in the review 34 articles. The study of selected literature sources resulted in three analytic themes being identified: the most common type of staphylococcus, which lead to the mastitis disease, the most common toxins and methods of identification of toxins. However, very few articles directly contained detailed information about the biochemical features of the mechanisms of action of staphylococcal virulence factors associated with mastitis. This review contains a summary of the experimental data obtained by scientists, and may be of interest both to researchers who want to expand the field of knowledge on this problem, and to readers inexperienced in science in order to broaden their horizons and get information about the virulence factors of staphylococci that contribute to the development of mastitis disease. The results of this review can be used by the professionals dealing with the topic.