Prevalence of Virulence Genes and Their Association with Antimicrobial Resistance Among Pathogenic E. coli Isolated from Egyptian Patients with Different Clinical Infections

Rehab Mahmoud Abd El-Baky; Reham Ali Ibrahim; Doaa Safwat Mohamed; Eman Farouk Ahmed; Zeinab Shawky Hashem

doi:10.2147/IDR.S241073

Prevalence of Virulence Genes and Their Association with Antimicrobial Resistance Among Pathogenic E. coli Isolated from Egyptian Patients with Different Clinical Infections

Infect Drug Resist. 2020 Apr 28:13:1221-1236. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S241073. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Rehab Mahmoud Abd El-Baky^{1

2}, Reham Ali Ibrahim¹, Doaa Safwat Mohamed², Eman Farouk Ahmed², Zeinab Shawky Hashem¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Minia University, Minia 61519, Egypt.
² Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Deraya University, Minia 11566, Egypt.

Abstract

Introduction: Escherichia (E.) coli can cause intestinal and extra-intestinal infections which ranged from mild to life-threatening infections. The severity of infection is a product of many factors including virulence properties and antimicrobial resistance.

Objectives: To determine the antibiotic resistance pattern, the distribution of virulence factors and their association with one another and with some selected resistance genes.

Methods: Virulence properties were analyzed phenotypically while antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by Kirby-Bauer agar disc diffusion method. In addition, 64 E. coli isolates were tested for 6 colicin genes, fimH, hlyA, traT, csgA, crl virulence genes and bla_-CTX-M-15, bla_-oxa-2 , and bla_-oxa-10 resistance genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Results: Extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli isolated from urine and blood samples represented a battery of virulence factors and resistance genes with a great ability to produce biofilm. Also, a significant association (P<0.05) among most of the tested colicin, virulence and resistance genes was observed. The observed associations indicate the importance and contribution of the tested factors in the establishment and the progress of infection especially with Extra-intestinal E. coli (ExPEC) which is considered a great challenging health problem.

Conclusion: There is a need for studying how to control these factors to decrease the rate and the severity of infections. The relationship between virulence factors and resistance genes is complex and needs more studies that should be specific for each area.

Keywords: E. coli; ESBL; bla−CTX-M-15; bla−oxa-10; bla−oxa-2; colicin genes; resistance; virulence.

Grants and funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The authors received no financial support for the research or publication of this article.