Three strains of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), originally isolated from humans and previously shown to cause diarrhea in human volunteers by unknown mechanisms, and one rabbit EPEC strain were shown to attach intimately to and efface microvilli and cytoplasm from intestinal epithelial cells in both the pig and rabbit intestine. The attaching and effacing activities of these EPEC were demonstrable by light microscopic examination of routine histological sections and by transmission electron microscopy. It was suggested that intact colostrum-deprived newborn pigs and ligated intestinal loops in pigs and rabbits may be useful systems to detect EPEC that have attaching and effacing activities and for studying the pathogenesis of such infections. The lesions (attachment and effacement) produced by EPEC in these systems were multifocal, with considerable animal-to-animal variation in response to the same strain of EPEC. The EPEC strains also varied in the frequency and extent of lesion production. For example, three human EPEC strains usually caused extensive lesions in rabbit intestinal loops, whereas two other human EPEC strains usually did not produce lesions in this system.

Cell-free culture filtrates of heat-labile enterotoxin-producing strains of Escherichia coli are capable of inducing morphological changes and steroidogenesis in monolayer cultures of adrenal cells. These tissue culture changes are simiar to those induced by cholera enterotoxin and cannot be effected by culture filtrates of other enterotoxigenic or enteropathogenic types of bacteria. The results of the tissue culture studies correlated well with those done in the standard intestinal-loop systems and suggest that this tissue culture system could be used to significantly aid epidemiological and molecular studies with heat-labile Escherichia coli enterotoxin.

We investigated the role of the rumen fermentation as a barrier to the foodborne pathogen, Escherichia coli O157:H7. Strains of E. coli, including several isolates of O157:H7, grew poorly in media which simulated the ruminal environment of a well-fed animal. Strains of E. coli O157:H7 did not display a superior tolerance to ruminal conditions which may facilitate their colonization of the bovine digestive tract. Unrestricted growth of E. coli was observed in rumen fluid collected from fasted cattle. Growth was inhibited by rumen fluid collected from well-fed animals. Well-fed animals appear less likely to become reservoirs for pathogenic E. coli. These results have implications for cattle slaughter practices and epidemiological studies of E. coli O157:H7.

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The gene encoding heat-stable toxin II (STII) was cloned into an Escherichia coli K-12 strain, and its nucleotide sequence was determined. The deduced amino acid sequence indicates that STII is synthesized within the cell as a 71-amino-acid protein and that neither the DNA nor amino acid sequence bears any similarity to that of heat-stable toxin I. A DNA fragment containing the STII gene was used to probe enterotoxigenic E. coli clinical isolates with various toxin phenotypes and was shown to be useful in detecting all STII and only STII producers.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) that were isolated from neonatal pigs and that did not react in preliminary tests for pilus antigen K88 were subjected to additional tests for K88 and for pilus antigens K99 and 987P. Four such isolates produced K88, 9 isolates produced K99, 55 isolates produced 987P, and the remaining 43 isolates produced none of the three pilus antigens (3P-). Immunofluorescence tests of ileal sections from pigs were more sensitive for 987P detection than was serum agglutination of bacteria grown from the ileum. Most ETEC that produced K88, K99, or 987P were enteropathogenic (adhered to ileal villi, colonized intensively, and caused profuse diarrhea) when given to neonatal pigs. In contrast, only 3 of the 43 ETEC that produced none of the pilus antigens were enteropathogenic. The isolates were also tested for the type of enterotoxin produced. The K88' isolates all produced heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) detectable in cultured adrenal cells (i.e., were LT'). None of the 987P+, K99', or enterpathogenic 3P-isolates produced LT. However (except for a single K99+ isolate), they all produced heat-stable enterotoxin detectable in infant mice (STa+). Sixteen isolates produced neither LT nor STa but did produce enterotoxin detectable in ligated intestinal loops of pigs (STb). Most of these LT-STa-STb+ isolates were also K88-, K99-, and 987P-and non-enteropathogenic. One of them was K99+ and enteropathogenic. Our conclusions are as follows. (i) Most enteropathogenic ETEC from neonatal pigs produce either K88, 987P, or K99; however, there are some that produce none of the three antigens. (ii) Immunofluorescence tests for pilus antigens produced in vivo are recommended for the diagnosis of ETEC infections. (iii) Reports of LT-STa-STb+ swine ETEC are confirmed; furthermore, such isolates can be enteropathogenic.

The mechanisms which enable cholera toxin (CT) and the Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxins (STa and STb) to stimulate intestinal secretion of water and electrolytes are only partially understood. CT evokes the synthesis of 3,5-cyclic AMP (cAMP), and STa is known to elevate intestinal levels of 3,5-cyclic GMP (cGMP). Neither of these recognized second messengers appears to mediate E. coli STb responses. We compared the secretory effects of CT, STa, and STb using the pig intestinal loop model and also measured the effects of toxin challenge on the synthesis of cAMP, cGMP, and prostaglandins (e.g., prostaglandin E 2 [PGE 2 ]), as well as on the release of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) from intestinal enterochromaffin cells. All three enterotoxins elicited fluid accumulation within a 2-h observation period. A combination of maximal doses of STa with STb yielded additive effects on fluid accumulation, which suggested different mechanisms of action for these toxins. Similarly, challenge of pig intestinal loops with a combination of CT and STb resulted in additive effects on fluid accumulation and luminal release of 5-HT. Unlike its effect on intestinal tissues from other animals, CT did not appear to elicit a dose-dependent cAMP response measurable in mucosal extracts from pig small intestine. In contrast, luminal fluid from CT-challenged pig intestinal loops contained doserelated amounts of cAMP and PGE 2 that had been secreted from the mucosa. cAMP responses to STa or STb could not be demonstrated in either mucosal tissue or luminal fluid. In contrast, cGMP levels were increased in the intestinal fluid of loops challenged with STa but not in those challenged with STb. While the mechanisms of action of CT and STa are thought to involve impulse transmission via the enteric nervous system, we demonstrated significant stimulation of PGE 2 synthesis and 5-HT release for CT and STb but very little for STa. We conclude from these data that the mechanisms of action of STa, STb, and CT are distinct, although the mode of action of STb may have some similarity to that of CT. Since STb stimulated the release of both PGE 2 and 5-HT from the intestinal mucosa, the data suggested the potential for an effect of STb on the enteric nervous system.