Phenotypic and genetic characterization of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and entero-aggregative E. coli (EAEC) from diarrhoeal and non-diarrhoeal children in Libya.
A total of 50 Escherichia coli strains isolated in a Libyan hospital (20 from children with diarrhoea and 30 from healthy children) were investigated for their pathotypes and virulence traits. Altogether nine eae-positive (enteropathogenic E. coli, EPEC) and nine aggR-positive (entero-aggregative E. coli, EAEC) strains were identified. Significantly (P=0.001) more EPEC strains were identified from diarrhoeal patients (n=8) than from healthy controls (n=1), while six EAEC strains were identified from diarrhoeal and three from healthy children. Typical (eae(+), EAF(+), bfp(+)) EPEC strains (n=6) belonged to classical EPEC serogroups O55, O114, O127 and showed localized adherence on Hela cells. EAEC strains revealed genetic heterogeneity but uniformly adhered to HeLa cultures in an entero-aggregative adherence pattern. Antibiotic resistance frequently, characterized the strains. Sixty-eight percentage of the strains were resistant against at least one antibiotic and 30% harbored a class 1 integron independently of their clinical background. This is the first report from North Africa demonstrating the significance of EPEC and EAEC.
Dow
M A
MA
Veterinary Medical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
Tóth
I
I
Malik
A
A
Herpay
M
M
Nógrády
N
N
Ghenghesh
K S
KS
Nagy
B
B
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008002:Libya; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012703:Serotyping; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; C088603:AggR protein, E coli; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; C073819:eaeA protein, E coli