The prevalence of hybrid enteroaggregative/uropathogenic E. Coli (EAEC/UPEC) genotypes and detection of some virulence genes isolated from patients referred to Al-Zahra and Imam Hossein hospitals in Isfahan, Iran

Background and Aim : Virulence genes from special Escherichia coli pathotypes are combined in hybrid strains. E. Coli with hybrid enteroaggregative/uropathogenic (EAEC/UPEC) genotypes have sporadically emerged causing outbreaks of extraintestinal infections, but their association with recurring infections is but underappreciated.Methods : In this sectional-descriptive study which was performed in ۲۰۱۹, clinical isolates of E. coli were collected from patients referred to ۲ hospitals of Isfahan. Extensive virulence genotyping was carried out to detect ۷ virulence genes, including molecular predictors of EAEC and UPEC strains. The presence of the genes was screened by PCR using specific primers for pap, aatA, aggR, Aap, chuA, fyuA and fimH in extracted plasmid DNA.Results : The frequency of Hybrid EAEC/UPEC strains virulence genes was aatA (۱۹.۲۳%), pap (۵۷.۶۹%), aggR (۶۹.۲۳%), Aap (۶۹.۲۳%), chuA (۷۶.۹۲%), , fyuA (۸۰.۷۷%), and fimH (۹۲.۳۱%).Conclusion : Our study showed that the fimH, fyuA and chuA virulence genes were highly prevalent among hybrid strains isolated from hospitalized patients in our region; therefore, these genes could be studied as targets for medical interventions.

کلیدواژه ها:

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli ، Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli ، Virulence genes ، Hybrid strain