Localized, diffuse, and aggregative-adhering Escherichia coli from infants with acute diarrhea and matched-controls

• Main Authors: Marcelo Magalhães, Rosemary J. M. Amorim, Yoshifumi Takeda, Teizo Tsukamoto, Maria G. Antas, Seiki Tateno
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 1992-03-01
• Series: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: adherent Escherichia coli; EPEC; infantile diarrhea
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02761992000100015

Of 126 infants under 2 years, enrolled in a study on the etiology of acute diarrhea in Recife, Brazil, we selected 37 from whom no recognized enteropathogens, except classic enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, were identified. For comparison, we also examined 37 matched-control infants without diarrhea seen at the same hospital setting. This paper had the purpose to determine the prevalence of localized, diffuse, and aggregative-adhering E. coli strains in both groups. Three to five fecal E. coli colonies, of each case and control, were tested individually for adherence to HeLa cells by using the one step 3-h incubation assay. Strains of E. coli showing localized adherence were found significantly more often in patients (37.8%) than in controls (13.5%), p < 0.02, and they were pratically confined to EPEC serovars 055:H-, 0111:H2, and 119:H6. In contrast, E. coli isolates exhibiting the diffuse or aggregative patterns of adherence were restricted to non-EPEC serogroups and were more frequently encountred among controls.