Molecular epidemiology of 3 putative virulence genes for Escherichia coli urinary tract infection -: usp, iha, and iroNE-coli

This study describes the epidemiological association of 3 putative genes for virulence of uropathogenic Escherichia coli; uropathogenic specific protein (usp), a Vibrio cholerae zot gene homologue; IrgA homologue adhesin (iha), a nonhemagglutinating adhesin; and iroN(E. coli), a catechole siderophore receptor homologue. We compared the relative frequency in urinary tract infection (UTI) isolates (n = 508), compared with non-UTI isolates (n = 416). iroNE. coli occurred 2.1-3.6 times more frequently in UTI isolates than in rectal isolates (P = 1.1 x 10(-18) to P = 2.7 x 10(-5)) and was associated with several uropathogenic virulence genes found on pathogenicity islands. usp occurred more frequently in isolates from patients with pyelonephritis (P = 3.6 x 10(-9)), in periurethral isolates (P = .001), and in isolates from patients with UTI who were aged 40-65 years (P = .004), when compared with the rectal isolates; iha was not associated with UTI in this study.

本研究描述了尿路致病性大肠杆菌3种假定的毒力基因的流行病学关联；尿路致病性特异性蛋白（usp），一种霍乱弧菌紧密连接毒素（zot）基因同源物；IrgA同源黏附素（iha），一种非血凝性黏附素；以及铁载体受体同源物iroN（大肠杆菌）。我们比较了其在尿路感染（UTI）分离株（n = 508）中的相对频率，并与非UTI分离株（n = 416）进行了比较。iroN（大肠杆菌）在UTI分离株中出现的频率是直肠分离株的2.1 - 3.6倍（P = 1.1×10⁻¹⁸至P = 2.7×10⁻⁵），并且与在致病岛上发现的几种尿路致病性毒力基因相关。与直肠分离株相比，usp在肾盂肾炎患者的分离株中（P = 3.6×10⁻⁹）、尿道周围分离株中（P = 0.001）以及40 - 65岁的UTI患者的分离株中（P = 0.004）出现的频率更高；在本研究中，iha与UTI无关。