PREVALENCE OF PAPA, FIMH, MALX AND ISS GENES IN ESCHERICHIA COLI ISOLATES FROM PATIENTS WITH COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED UTIS

Background and Aim:Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are responsible for ~80-90% of community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs). These strains possess a variety of virulence factors that allow their transition from the gastrointestinal tract to the urinary tract and enable them to adhere and colonize the uroepithelium and causing UTIs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of some virulence factors of E. coli isolates from patients with community-acquired UTIs.Methods:A total of 78 urinary E. coli were isolated from unrelated case of community-acquired UTIs patients referred to laboratory of Shahid Faghihi hospital in Shiraz, Iran. The isolates were confirmed as E. coli by the conventional biochemical tests. Bacterial DNA was extracted using the boiling method. Virulence factors were detected by amplifying the increased serum survival (iss), maltose phosphotransferase system (malX), Type 1 fimbiral adhesion (fimH) and pyelonephritis-associated pili (papA) genes by PCR.Results:The prevalence of fimH, papA, malX and iss genes in 78 urinary E. coli isolates were 73.1%, 34.6%, 26.9% and 23.1%, respectively. The most prevalent gene was fimH and by lesser extent papA gene.Conclusion:UPEC strains do not produce the same set of virulence factors. Fimbrial adhesions are the most frequent virulence genes in UPEC, which promote colonization, invasion, and replication of E. coli within uroepithelium. Identification of virulence genes, which role in adhesion of UPEC to uroepithelial cells can be useful for development of targeted therapy for prevention of UTIs.

کلیدواژه ها:

Uropathogenic E. coli ، Community-Acquired UTIs ، Virulence Factors ، Adhesin ، PCR