Association between Presence of Urovirulence Factors, Phylogenetic Class, and Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns in 159 Uropathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> Samples Isolated from Dogs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine four urovirulence factors (UVFs) and their phylogenetic classes and compare their levels of resistance to antimicrobial drug classes in 159 canine uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) isolates submitted to the Clinical bacteriology and Mycology Laboratory of The University of Tennessee Veterinary Medical Center in 2007. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the following UVFs: cytotoxic necrotizing factor (cnf), hemolysin (hly), S-fimbrial adhesion gene (sfa), and Pilus associated with pyelonephritis gene G allele III (pap); polymerase chain reaction was used to determine phylogenetic group. In vitro susceptibility to antimicrobial classes was evaluated, and resistance was compared to UVF presence as well as phylogenetic class. UVFs were presented in 48% of UPEC and were negatively correlated with antimicrobial resistance. Of the 159 samples, the number of UVFs expressed per isolate was 0 = 82 (52%), 1 = 24 (15%), 2 = 2 (1%), 3 = 18 (11%), and 4 = 33 (21%). The following UVFs were expressed: sfa (33%), hly (24%), cnf (25%), and pap (18%). Presence of all four UVFs, hly, cnf, and sfa together, and sfa alone, was associated with less resistance (P < 0.0001). Class B2 was the most common phylogenetic class and contained the highest number of UVFs (P < 0.001). Mean antimicrobial resistance was the highest in class A (P < 0.001) and the lowest in B2 (P < 0.001). Phylogenetic class A contained the lowest number of UVFs.

Kedi ve köpeklerin ürogenital sistem infeksiyonlarından izole edilen Escherichia coli'lerin virulens faktörlerinin belirlenmesi

“…al. (39) reported that they detected 25% cnf1 gene in 159 E. coli isolates from canine patients in 2007. This result showed that cytotoxic necrotizing factor was common and important virulence factor in uropathogenic E. coli and prognosis of infection.…”

“…UPEC causes various diseases as opportunistic pathogens in humans and animals, especially in cats and dogs. These bacteria can also cause vaginitis, pyometra especially in femeale dogs rather than female cats (2,4,6) cystitis and pyelonephritis (4,39). E. coli is the most isolated (62-90%) bacteria in pyometra.…”