Association Between Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Virulence Genes and Severity of Infection and Resistance to Antibiotics
Abstract
Purpose Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most frequent bacterial infection. Some uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) genes have been associated with disease severity and antibiotic resistance. The aim was to determine the association of nine UPEC virulence genes with UTI severity and antibiotic resistance of strains collected from adults with community-acquired UTI. Patients and Methods A case-control study (1:3) (38 urosepsis/pyelonephritis and 114 cystitis/urethritis) was conducted. The fimH, sfa/foc, cvaC, hlyA, iroN, fyuA, ireA, iutA, and aer (the last five are siderophore genes) virulence genes were determined by PCR. The information of antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the strains was collected from medical records. This pattern was determined using an automated system for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) was defined as resistance to three or more antibiotic families. Results fimH was the most frequently detected virulence gene (94.7%), and sfa/foc was the least frequently detected (9.2%); 55.3% (83/150) of the strains were MDR. The evaluated genes were not associated with UTI severity. Associations were found between the presence of hlyA and carbapenem resistance (Odds ratio [OR] = 7.58, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.50–35.42), iutA and fluoroquinolone resistance (OR = 2.35, 95% CI, 1.15–4.84, and aer (OR = 2.8, 95% CI, 1.20–6.48) and iutA (OR = 2.95, 95% CI, 1.33–6.69) with penicillin resistance. In addition, iutA was the…
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Evidence Hub reads this as a case-control, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause.
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