Association of enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis with bacteremia.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was compared with cell culture assay performed with use of HT29/C1 (human colonic epithelial) cells for identifying strains of enterotoxin-producing Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) isolated from extraintestinal specimens. A total of 188 unselected strains obtained over 2 years at a central clinical laboratory in Tokyo were tested. Overall, 35 strains (18.6%) were positive by cell culture and PCR assay, 152 strains were negative by both assays, and 1 strain was negative by cell culture assay but positive by the PCR assay; the same results were obtained in repeated assays. Among 64 strains from blood, 18 (28.1%) were ETBF, a rate that was significantly higher (P < .05) than the 17 ETBF (13.7%) among 124 strains from other sites. These results suggest that PCR assay is a simple and reliable tool for detecting ETBF and that enterotoxin may be a virulence factor in bacteremia caused by B. fragilis.
Kato
N
N
Institute of Anaerobic Bacteriology, Gifu University School of Medicine, Japan. nk19@cc.gifu-u.ac.jp
Kato
H
H
Watanabe
K
K
Ueno
K
K
D016470:Bacteremia / Q000382:microbiology*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D001442:Bacteroides Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D001441:Bacteroides fragilis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014774:Virulence
D017931:DNA Primers; D004768:Enterotoxins