Prevalence of potential virulence markers in Polish Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolates obtained from hospitalized children and from chicken carcasses

Abstract

The pathogenicity of thermotolerant Campylobacter species, common food-borne pathogens, depends on certain factors unevenly distributed among strains of different origin. The prevalence of such markers has never been examined in a population of Polish Campylobacter strains of human and poultry origin. Therefore, we analysed the presence of the cadF, cdtA, cdtB and cdtC genes and the iam sequence in Campylobacter jejuni (n ¼ 115) and Campylobacter coli (n ¼ 57) isolates from children with diarrhoea and from chicken carcasses. The cadF gene was present in nearly 100 % of Campylobacter isolates tested, regardless of their origin or species. In contrast, the iam region was found in 83 . 3 % and 100 % of C. coli isolates from children and chickens, respectively, but in only 1 . 6 % and 54 . 7 %, respectively, of C. jejuni isolates. Similarly, the detection rates of cdt genes varied between human and chicken isolates. All three cdt genes were found in nearly all C. jejuni isolates from both children and chickens, but in only 5 . 6 % of human C. coli isolates as compared to 87 . 2 % of chicken C. coli isolates. This different distribution of genetic markers between human and chicken isolates indicates that some Campylobacter infections in children may have additional sources other than contaminated chicken meat.

Prevalence, antimicrobial resistance, and molecular characterization of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli isolated from retail raw meat in Poland

“…These results are similar to data previously reported by other authors (Datta et al 2003;Rozynek et al 2005;Krutkiewicz and Klimuszko 2010;Rapabelli et al 2010). The invasion-associated marker (iam) of Campylobacter was another virulence marker detected in this study.…”

Virulence genes and cytokine profile in systemic murineCampylobacter coliinfection

“…Analysis of the cadF gene has revealed its high prevalence (i.e., 100%) among Campylobacter spp. isolates derived from poultry carcasses, broiler faeces, bovine faeces, retail raw meat, pig and cattle, 18,[30][31][32]36 and also among isolates of human origin. 30,31,37 The cadF gene is probably conserved among Campylobacter spp isolates, 18 regardless of their origin or species, as is the case also in the C. coli 26536 isolate used here.…”

“…isolates derived from poultry carcasses, broiler faeces, bovine faeces, retail raw meat, pig and cattle, 18,[30][31][32]36 and also among isolates of human origin. 30,31,37 The cadF gene is probably conserved among Campylobacter spp isolates, 18 regardless of their origin or species, as is the case also in the C. coli 26536 isolate used here. In contrast, several studies have shown wide variations for the presence of virB11, which was not found in C. jejuni and C. coli isolates from poultry faeces, 18 although it was identified in 4% to 15% of isolates tested from poultry meat, pig and cattle, 31,32,36 and in 10% to 17% of human clinical samples.…”

“…In recent studies, the distribution and prevalence of the CDT gene cluster of the cdtA, cdtB and cdtC genes in C. jejuni and C. coli isolates was investigated, and these genes were found in different ratios. 30,32 The genes encoding the cdt gene cluster are widespread among poultry and human Campylobacter spp. isolates, with the cdtC gene showing higher prevalence among C. jejuni strains (93%-100%) than for C. coli (66%-100%), and with similar cdtB gene prevalence for both C. jejuni and C. coli (91%-100%).…”

“…6,7 Indeed, several potential virulence factors have been identified 11,[13][14][15]23 that show different prevalence according to the human, animal or environmental sources of the Campylobacter spp strain. 18,[30][31][32] One of these is the cadF gene, which encodes a protein belonging to the group of outer-membrane proteins that facilitates the binding of Campylobacter spp. in the host cells, 33 as was confirmed by Campylobacter spp colonisation using a chicken model.…”