Virulence gene transcription, phylogroups, and antibiotic resistance of cervico-vaginal pathogenic E. coli in Mexico

Abstract

The pathogenicity of Escherichia coli strains that cause cervico-vaginal infections (CVI) is due to the presence of several virulence genes. The objective of this study was to define the variability regarding the genotype of antibiotic resistance, the transcription profiles of virulence genes after in vitro infection of the vaginal cell line A431 and the phylogroup composition of a group of cervico-vaginal E. coli strains (CVEC). A total of 200 E. coli strains isolated from Mexican women with CVI from two medical units of the Mexican Institute of Social Security were analysed. E. coli strains and antibiotic resistance genes were identified using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and phylogroups were identified using multiplex PCR. Virulence gene transcription was measured through reverse-transcriptase realtime PCR after infection of the vaginal cell line A431. The most common antibiotic resistance genes among the CVEC strains were aac(3)II, TEM, dfrA1, sul1, and qnrA. The predominant phylogroup was B2. The genes most frequently transcribed in these strains were fimH, papC, irp2, iroN, kpsMTII, cnf1, and ompT, mainly in CVEC strains isolated from chronic and occasional vaginal infections. The strains showed a large diversity of transcription of the virulence genes phenotype and antibiotic resistance genotype, especially in the strains of phylogroups, B2, A, and D. The strains formed 2 large clusters, which contained several subclusters. The genetic diversity of CVEC strains was high. These strains have a large number of transcription patterns of virulence genes, and one-third of them carry three to seven antibiotic resistance genes.

Phylogroup profiling and the genetic determinants of extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing Escherichia coli isolated from clinical samples in lagos, Nigeria

“…This is because our isolates collections are from infection site and therefore belong to the pathogenic phylogroup B2. The B2 phylogroup strains are reported for its high virulence and multiple antibiotic resistance (Basu et al, 2013;Ranjan et al, 2017;Monroy-Pérez et al, 2020). This multiple antibiotic resistance was also observed in our study which predominantly harboured co-existing bla and bla gene, a…”

Characterization of virulence determinants and phylogenetic background of multiple and extensively drug resistant Escherichia coli isolated from different clinical sources in Egypt

“…Moreover, resistance profiles of tested isolates have revealed dramatic increase of MDR (92.67%) and emergence of XDR (4%). Elevated rates of resistance to several classes of antimicrobial agents pose a serious health problem decreasing the treatment efficiency and limiting treatment options (Monroy-Pérez et al 2020 ). Similar trends were recently reported in Egypt; where, Masoud et al have reported that 73% of E. coli isolates collected from different clinical sources were MDR (Masoud et al 2021 ).…”

“…kpsMTII, encoding group II capsule, was detected in 69.3% of the tested clinical isolates. Groups II capsule is the most prevalent among ExPEC including UTI, bloodstream, and meningitis isolates and infrequent among commensal E. coli (Monroy-Pérez et al 2020 ; Ramírez-Castillo et al 2018 ).…”

Genotyping of Escherichia coli Causing Vaginal Infection in Dysplastic Patients with Similar Genetic Backgrounds Between Commensal and Virulent Strains

“…In our work, we observed a cor-relation between the presence of the fimH, traT, iutA, and papC genes with high resistance to β-lactams and sulfonamides. Future work will be directed to study the expression levels of these genes by using in vitro infection models of cell lines, as previously reported (19,21). The findings showed that even when the presence of virulence genes is high, the expression of these genes could be variable in in vivo models.…”

“…In Mexico, trimethoprim has been frequently used as the antibiotic of choice for treating urinary tract infections, which has led to recurrent vaginal infections associated with the presence of the dfrA genes (19). The bla OXA-1 gene conferring resistance to β-lactams (6), variants of the addA gene for streptomycin, and the sul1 gene for sulfonamides (19) were also found. The highest incidence of monogenic arrays found in this work was constituted by the dfr genes, as in other studies (20).…”