Detection of a vacuolating cytotoxin in stools from children with diarrhea.
A cytotoxin inducing vacuolation in HEp-2 cells was detected in 19 (3.1%) of 618 stool specimens from children with diarrhea but in none of 135 from control children. Common enteric pathogens were found in only two (10.5%) of the 19 cytotoxin-positive stool specimens. The vacuoles induced by stool filtrates resembled those induced by the vacuolating toxin (VacA) of Helicobacter pylori. The vacuolating toxin was heat-labile and protease-sensitive, and it had an apparent molecular weight of > 100,000 but was not neutralized by an antiserum to H. pylori VacA. Although proper prospective case-control studies are needed to definitely assess the etiologic association between the new vacuolating cytotoxin and diarrhea, the present study suggests that microorganisms of the gastrointestinal tract produce a Helicobacter-like vacuolating toxin and may be responsible for cases of childhood diarrhea whose etiology is currently considered unknown.
Luzzi
I
I
Laboratorio di Batteriologia e Micologia Medica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Covacci
A
A
Censini
S
S
Pezzella
C
C
Crotti
D
D
Facchini
M
M
Giammanco
A
A
Guglielmetti
P
P
Piersimoni
C
C
Bonamico
M
M
Mariani
P
P
Rappuoli
R
R
Caprioli
A
A
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002460:Cell Line; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D014774:Virulence
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D003603:Cytotoxins; C074689:VacA protein, Helicobacter pylori