pic gene of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli and its association with diarrhea in Peruvian children.
Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) causes acute and persistent diarrhea among children, HIV-infected patients, and travelers to developing countries. We have searched for 18 genes-encoding virulence factors associated with aggregative adherence, dispersion, biofilm, toxins, serine protease autotransporters of Enterobacteriaceae (SPATEs) and siderophores, analyzed in 172 well-characterized EAEC strains (aggR(+)) isolated from stool samples of 97 children with diarrhea and 75 healthy controls from a passive surveillance diarrhea cohort study in Peru. Eighty-one different genetic profiles were identified, 37 were found only associated with diarrhea and 25 with control samples. The most frequent genetic profile was aggC(+)aatA(+)aap(+)shf(+)fyuA(+), present in 19 strains, including diarrhea and controls. The profile set1A(+)set1B(+)pic(+) was associated with diarrhea (P < 0.05). Of all genes evaluated, the most frequent were aatA (CVD 342) present in 159 strains (92.4%) and fyuA in 157 (91.3%). When EAEC strains were analyzed as a single pathogen (excluding co-infections), only pic was associated with diarrhea (P < 0.05) and with prolonged diarrhea (diarrhea ≥ 7 days) (P < 0.05). In summary, this is the first report on the prevalence of a large set of EAEC virulence genes and its association with diarrhea in Peruvian children. More studies are needed to elucidate the exact role of each virulence factor.
Alexander von Humboldt Tropical Medicine Institute, Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, 430 Honorio Delgado Avenue, Lima 31, Perú
David
D
Durand
Alexander von Humboldt Tropical Medicine Institute, Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, 430 Honorio Delgado Avenue, Lima 31, Perú Department of Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Biotechnology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Cuernavaca postal code 62210, México.
Carmen A
CA
Contreras
Alexander von Humboldt Tropical Medicine Institute, Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, 430 Honorio Delgado Avenue, Lima 31, Perú
Susan
S
Mosquito
ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB), Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, University of Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
Joaquim
J
Ruíz
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Thomas G
TG
Cleary
Alexander von Humboldt Tropical Medicine Institute, Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, 430 Honorio Delgado Avenue, Lima 31, Perú University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, Houston, TX 77030, USA Theresa.J.Ochoa@uth.tmc.edu.
Theresa J
TJ
Ochoa
D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010568:Peru / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics*; D059467:Transcriptome; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors; C541114:Pic protein, E coli; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases
EAEC; aggR gene; children; control; diarrhea; virulence genes