Host specificity of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli from rabbits: Lack of correlation between adherence in vitro and pathogenicity for laboratory animals

The pathogenicity of four attaching and effacing strains of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli originally isolated from diarrheic rabbits was investigated by inoculating them perorally into rabbits, guinea pigs, and mice. The ability of the four strains to adhere to cultured epithelial cells, erythro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infection and Immunity 1994-08, Vol.62 (8), p.3329-3336
Main Authors: Robins-Browne, R.M, Tokhi, A.M, Adams, L.M, Bennett-Wood, V
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacterial Adhesion
COBAYA
COBAYE
CONEJO (ORYCTOLAGUS)
Diarrhea - etiology
DIFERENCIAS BIOLOGICAS
DIFFERENCE BIOLOGIQUE
ECOLOGIA ANIMAL
ECOLOGIE ANIMALE
ESCHERICHIA COLI
Escherichia coli - pathogenicity
Guinea Pigs
Intestines - microbiology
LAPIN (ORYCTOLAGUS)
Mice
Mice, Inbred BALB C
PODER PATOGENO
POUVOIR PATHOGENE
PROPIEDADES MECANICAS
PROPRIETE MECANIQUE
Rabbits
RATON
RELACIONES HUESPED PARASITO
RELATION HOTE PARASITE
SOURIS
Species Specificity
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The pathogenicity of four attaching and effacing strains of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli originally isolated from diarrheic rabbits was investigated by inoculating them perorally into rabbits, guinea pigs, and mice. The ability of the four strains to adhere to cultured epithelial cells, erythrocytes, and intestinal brush borders from various animal species, including rabbits, guinea pigs, and mice, varied considerably. Only one strain carried AF/R1 fimbriae, which are believed to determine the host specificity of these bacteria. Despite these differences, the pattern of behavior of the four strains in experimentally infected animals was similar. Each strain caused fatal diarrhea in rabbits although the virulence of individual strains for rabbits differed significantly), and none was virulent for guinea pigs or mice. None of the strains colonized the intestinal tract of guinea pigs, but all were able to cause attaching-effacing lesions in ligated loops of guinea pig small intestine. By contrast, all four strains colonized mice, in particular the distal intestine, but none induced attaching-effacing lesions in mouse intestinal loops. These findings suggest that there may be previously unrecognized host-restricted adhesins in enteropathogenic E. coli and indicate that adherence to erythrocytes or intestinal brush borders in vitro does not necessarily reflect colonizing ability or pathogenicity in vivo
ISSN:0019-9567
1098-5522
DOI:10.1128/IAI.62.8.3329-3336.1994