Introduction: Little is known about the involvement of hydrolytic enzymes such as lipases as virulence factors in infections involving Enterococcus spp.
Methods: A total of 45 isolates of E. faecium were investigated. Lipolytic activity of enterococcal strains was determined by Tryptic Soy Agar containing Tween 20, Tween 40, Tween 60, Tween 80 and egg yolk.
Results: We detected that E. fecium strains produced lipases more frequently on Tween 20 agar (71.1% strains) than on Tween 40 agar, Tween 60 agar, Tween 80 agar, egg yolk agar (respectively 33.3%, 24.4%, 20.0%, 31.1%). Our results indicate that lipase may be a virulence factor in E. faecium.
Conclusions: Studies suggest that source of isolation from clinical materials (blood, wound and fluid from the abdominal cavity) does not have an influence on the ability hydrolysis esters.