title: Use of antibody responses against locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE)-encoded antigens to monitor enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli infections on cattle farms.
abstract: Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) is a significant zoonotic pathogen causing severe disease associated with watery and bloody diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and the hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans. Infections are frequently associated with contact with EHEC-contaminated ruminant feces. Both natural and experimental infection of cattle induces serum antibodies against the LEE-encoded proteins intimin, EspA, EspB, and Tir and the Shiga toxins Stx1 and Stx2, although the latter are poorly immunogenic in cattle. We determined whether antibodies and/or the kinetics of antibody responses against intimin, Tir, EspA, and/or EspB can be used for monitoring EHEC infections in beef cattle herds in order to reduce carcass contamination at slaughter. We examined the presence of serum antibodies against recombinant O157:H7 E. coli intimin EspA, EspB, and Tir during a cross-sectional study on 12 cattle farms and during a longitudinal time course study on two EHEC-positive cattle farms. We searched for a possible correlation between intimin, Tir, EspA, and/or EspB antibodies and fecal excretion of EHEC O157, O145, O111, O103, or O26 seropathotypes. The results indicated that serum antibody responses to EspB and EspA might be useful for first-line screening at the herd level for EHEC O157, O26, and most likely also for EHEC O103 infections. However, antibody responses against EspB are of less use for monitoring individual animals, since some EHEC-shedding animals did not show antibody responses and since serum antibody responses against EspB could persist for several months even when shedding had ceased.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Laboratory of Hygiene and Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Maria-Adelheid
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Joris
authors.forename: Daisy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vanrompay
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Verstraete
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: De Reu
authors.forename: Lieven
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Zutter
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cox
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring / Q000662:veterinary*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000276:immunology*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000276:immunology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C457340:LEE protein, E coli; D010750:Phosphoproteins; C073819:eaeA protein, E coli
references.citation: Food Microbiol. 2012 Feb;29(1):49-55
references.pmid: 22029918
references.citation: Mol Microbiol. 2011 Jun;80(6):1420-38
references.pmid: 21488979
references.citation: Infect Immun. 2009 Aug;77(8):3501-13
references.pmid: 19506015
references.citation: Curr Microbiol. 2004 Jun;48(6):412-8
references.pmid: 15170235
references.citation: Vet Microbiol. 1995 Feb;43(2-3):131-41
references.pmid: 7740752
references.citation: Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract. 2010 Mar;26(1):29-56, table of contents
references.pmid: 20117541
references.citation: Appl Environ Microbiol. 1999 Feb;65(2):868-72
references.pmid: 9925634
references.citation: Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2006 Dec;13(12):1322-7
references.pmid: 17050743
references.citation: Int J Food Microbiol. 2013 Mar 15;162(2):190-212
references.pmid: 22939912
references.citation: Cell Microbiol. 2010 Nov;12(11):1544-52
references.pmid: 20716205
references.citation: J Clin Microbiol. 1998 Feb;36(2):598-602
references.pmid: 9466788
references.citation: Clin Chem. 2006 Feb;52(2):192-201
references.pmid: 16384888
references.citation: Appl Environ Microbiol. 2009 Jun;75(11):3695-704
references.pmid: 19363081
references.citation: J Clin Microbiol. 2007 May;45(5):1594-603
references.pmid: 17360845
references.citation: Vet Microbiol. 2011 Aug 5;151(3-4):418-21
references.pmid: 21546174
references.citation: Vaccine. 1993;11(1):55-60
references.pmid: 8427037
references.citation: Infect Immun. 2003 Jun;71(6):3443-53
references.pmid: 12761129
references.citation: Pediatr Nephrol. 2002 Mar;17(3):201-11
references.pmid: 11956862
references.citation: Res Vet Sci. 2010 Jun;88(3):411-4
references.pmid: 20096905
references.citation: Infect Immun. 2000 Jan;68(1):64-71
references.pmid: 10603369
references.citation: Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007 Mar;73(5):1563-8
references.pmid: 17220263
references.citation: Vet Microbiol. 2011 Mar 24;148(2-4):317-22
references.pmid: 20947271
references.citation: Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2007 Aug 15;118(3-4):229-38
references.pmid: 17617472
references.citation: Res Microbiol. 2007 Sep;158(7):591-9
references.pmid: 17845842
references.citation: Vet Res. 2010 Sep-Oct;41(5):57
references.pmid: 20423697
references.citation: Vet Q. 2001 Nov;23(4):162-9
references.pmid: 11765233
references.citation: BMC Microbiol. 2011 May 30;11:124
references.pmid: 21624114
references.citation: FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2008 May;282(1):124-31
references.pmid: 18355285
references.citation: J Biol Chem. 2004 Aug 6;279(32):33751-8
references.pmid: 15173179
references.citation: J Appl Microbiol. 2003;95(6):1217-25
references.pmid: 14632994
references.citation: BMC Infect Dis. 2007 Aug 24;7:98
references.pmid: 17718910