Background Escherichia albertii (E. albertii) is a Gram-negative and facultative anaerobe bacterium. In recent years, the bacterium has been isolated from the feces of people with gastroenteritis as a pathogen that causes diarrhea. Due to insufficient information on the phenotypic and biochemical characteristics of E. albertii, it is difficult to distinguish it from other species of the Enterobacteriaceae family. This is especially prevalent in the pathotypes of Escherichia coli (E. coli). Moreover, in clinical laboratories, it is mistakenly identified as E. coli or even Hafnia alvei (H. alvei). This study was performed for the first time in Iran to identify E. albertii by PCR method from a sample of urinary and gastrointestinal infections obtained from clinical laboratories in Kermanshah, which were distinguished as E. coli. Methods In this study, 60 urinary samples and 40 fecal samples that were identified as E. coli by phenotypic and biochemical methods in clinical laboratories. The samples were re-evaluated in the first step in terms of specific phenotypic and biochemical characteristics of E. coli. Subsequently, DNA was extracted from the isolates by the phenol method. Then, two lysP and mdh genes were detected for E. albertii and the uidA gene for E. coli by PCR using specific primers pairs. Results The results obtained from phenotypic and biochemical tests indicated that all samples were consistent with E. coli characteristics. However, findings from PCR showed that out of a total of 100 samples, specific genes of E. coli were identified in 6 samples (6%) and uidA gene in 94 remaining samples (94%). Of these 6 samples, 5 samples were urinary tract infections, and only one was a gastrointestinal infection. Conclusion The findings of this study show that E. albertii can be considered as one of the causes of urinary and gastrointestinal infections that are mistakenly identified in clinical laboratories as E. coli.Therefore, the use of molecular methods for accurate and definitive diagnosis of bacteria can be useful.

Background: Escherichia albertii has been recently isolated from the feces of people with gastroenteritis as a pathogen that causes diarrhea. Due to insufficient information on the phenotypic and biochemical characteristics of E. albertii, it is difficult to distinguish it from other species of the Enterobacteriaceae family and, therefore, it is mistakenly identified as Escherichia coli or even Hafnia alvei. Objective: The present study which was conducted for the first time in Iran aimed to identify E. albertii in samples from individuals afflicted with urinary and gastrointestinal infections by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. The required samples were obtained from clinical laboratories in Kermanshah. Materials and Methods: Firstly, a total of 60 urinary and 40 fecal samples identified as E. coli in clinical laboratories were re-evaluated in terms of specific phenotypic and biochemical characteristics of E. coli. Then, two lysP and mdh genes were detected for E. albertii, and the uidA gene was found for E. coli by PCR using specific primers pairs. Results: The results from phenotypic and biochemical tests indicated that all samples shared common characteristics with E. coli. However, PCR findings demonstrated that out of 100 samples, 6 samples (6%) contained specific genes of E. coli while 94 remaining samples (94%) showed the uidA gene. Out of the given 6 samples, 5 samples carried urinary tract infections and only one showed gastrointestinal infection. Conclusion: Our study findings revealed that E. albertii could have been considered as one of the causes for urinary and gastrointestinal infections in Iran, and that it was mistakenly identified as E. coli in clinical laboratories.