Improved Detection of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli among Patients with Travelers' Diarrhea, by Use of the Polymerase Chain Reaction Technique

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 1999-12, Vol.180 (6), p.2053-2055
• Main Authors: Caeiro, Juan-Pablo, Estrada-Garcia, M. Teresa, Jiang, Zhi-Dong, Mathewson, John J., Adachi, Javier A., Steffen, Robert, DuPont, Herbert L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the digestive system and abdomen; Bacterial Toxins - analysis; Bacterial Toxins - biosynthesis; Bacterial Toxins - genetics; Bacteriological methods and techniques used in bacteriology; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Concise Communications; Diarrhea; Diarrhea - diagnosis; Diarrhea - microbiology; DNA; DNA, Bacterial - analysis; DNA, Bacterial - isolation & purification; Enterotoxins - analysis; Enterotoxins - biosynthesis; Enterotoxins - genetics; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - isolation & purification; Escherichia coli - metabolism; Escherichia coli Infections - diagnosis; Escherichia coli Infections - microbiology; Escherichia coli Proteins; Feces - microbiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetic hybridization; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; Polymerase chain reaction; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Product category rules; Sensitivity and Specificity; Specimens; Toxins; Travel; Travelers
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/315121

This study sought to determine whether a specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) toxins after chaotropic extraction of DNA from stool would increase the detection of ETEC over that of conventional oligonucleotide probe hybridization of 5 E. coli colonies per stool sample (a standard method). By DNA hybridization, 29 (21%) of 140 patients were positive for ETEC, and 59 (42%) of 140 were positive for ETEC when PCR was used. Sensitivity of the PCR assay was confirmed through spiked stool experiments to be ∼100–1000 ETEC colonies per sample. Specificity of the assay was determined by showing an absence of ETEC by the PCR technique in a subgroup of 48 subjects and by confirming the presence of ETEC DNA of positive samples by dot blot procedure. PCR technique detected significantly more ETEC infections in these subjects than did the hybridization method (P < .0001).