Prevalence of papC and usp Virulence Factors in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Causing Asymptomatic Urinary Tract Infections in Adolescents.

Aims: To determine the prevalence of two virulence genes associated with uropathogenic Escherichia coli; papC gene of the P fimbriae for adherence to uro-epithelial cells and usp (uropathogen-specific protein) gene, a Vibrio cholerae toxin gene homologue. Study Design: Cross sectional. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology and the Clinical Analysis Laboratory, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, between October 2011 and February 2012. Methodology: Escherichia coli isolates (n= 149) from an adolescent population of ages 13- 18 years (from a total sampled population of 85 males and 64 females) were screened for papC and usp, using specific primers for the two genes in polymerase chain reactions. Results: The usp gene was the most prevalent (72.48%), followed by papC (51.00%) and papC+usp (24.16%). Significant difference (P = .002) was observed between papC and usp and also papC and papC+usp (P < .0001). usp Gene prevalence was also significantly different from that of papC+usp (P < .0001). Conclusion: This study suggests that a higher proportion of strains of uropathogenic Escherichia coli implicated in UTI in the studied population possess the usp gene whose protein product potentially serves to reduce competing microbes in the urinary tract.

new approach for designing a potentially vaccine candidate against urinary tract infection by using protein display on lactobacillus surface

The prevalence of Urinary Tract Infection [UTI] is really high in the world. Escherichia coli is a major agent of UTI. One of the strategies for decreasing UTI infections is vaccine development. As the attachment is a really important stage in colonization and infection, attachment inhibition has an applied strategy. FimH protein is a major factor during bacterial colonization in urinary tract and could be used as a vaccine. Thus, it was considered in this research as a candidate antigen. The sequences of fimH and acmA genes were used for designing a synthetic gene. It was cloned to pET23a expression vector and transformed to E. coli [DE3] Origami. To confirm the expression of recombinant protein, SDS-PAGE and western blotting methods were used. Subsequently, recombinant protein was purified. On the other hand, Lactobacillus reuteri was cultured and mixed with FimH / AcmA recombinant protein. The rate of protein localization on lactobacillus surface was assessed using ELISA method. It was showed that the recombinant protein was expressed in E. coli [DE3] Origami and purified by affinity chromatography. Moreover, this protein could be localized on lactobacillus surface by 5 days. In current study, a fusion recombinant protein was prepared and displayed on L. reuteri surface. This strain could be used for animal experiment as a competitor against Uropathogenic E. coli [UPEC]. Using manipulated probiotics strains instead of antibiotic therapy could decrease the antibiotic consumption and reduce multi-drug resistant strains

Asociación de marcadores eritrocitarios (ABO, MNSs, Rh, Lewis, P1) con recurrencias y anomalías anatómicas y funcionales en niños con infección del tracto urinario / Association of erythrocyt markers (ABO, MNSs, Rh, Lewis, P1) with recurrences and anatomical-functional abnormalities in children with urinary tract infection

Para contribuir a la identificación de niños con infección del tracto urinario con mayor riesgo de ubicación alta o baja, recurrencias y alteraciones radiológicas o ultrasonográficas (complicaciones) se estudiaron las asociaciones entre éstas y la distribución de marcadores eritrocitarios (ABO, MNSs, Rh, Lewis, P1) en 309 casos de infección urinaria. No se encontró asociación entre algún polimorfismo eritrocitario en particular con las mencionadas categorías, pero si entre el fenotipo P1 y la etiología Escherichia coli (OR=3,07; IC 95 porciento=1,13 a 8,6; p<0,02) y la ausencia de etiología no E. coli con el fenotipo B+(0/26) sin llegar a niveles de significación. Estos hallazgos sugieren que en niños con infección urinaria, estos fenotipos, por separado, probablemente tienen acciones independientes y aditivas

Frequency of pap and pil operons in Escherichia coli strains associated with urinary infections

Strains of E. coli isolated from patients with urinary tract infection were examined for P and type 1 adhesin production by colony hybridization with pap and pil operons. The P pili probe detected 45 (46.4 per cent) of the total of 97 strains studied and the type 1 pili probe detected 83 (85.6 per cent). The pap operon was detected in 39 (53.4 per cent) of 73 strains isolated from urine of patients with urinary disease and in 6 (25.0 per cent) of 24 strains isolated from feces of healthy individuals employed as controls (P = 0.029), and the pil operon was detected in 67 (91.8 per cent) of the urinary strains and in 16 (66.6 per cent) of the fecal strains (P = 0.007). Our data did not show significant differences in frequency of P pili among isolates from pyelonephritis (78.5 per cent), cystitis (45.8 per cent) and asymptomatic bacteriuria (54.5 per cent). Type 1 pili were not associated with the different types of infection; the frequency of these pili was 100 per cent in pyelonephritis and in asymptomatic bacteriuria, and 87.5 per cent in cystitis. The incidence of pap operon in strains isolated from pyelonephritis and from asymptomatic bacteriuria was higher in 11-to 40-year old women. These data show a high frequency of pap and pil operons among uropathogenic strains of E. coli, which seems to be an important factor in the development of urinary infection.