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Distribution of afaE adhesins in Escherichia coli isolated from Japanese patients with urinary tract infection.

PURPOSE
Afimbrial adhesin is known to be one of the most prevalent virulence factors in uropathogenic Escherichia coli. A recent report showed that the new subtype afaE8 predominated in afa positive isolates from patients with pyelonephritis (55.6%), suggesting that this subtype may be an important factor in ascending urinary tract infections.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 457 E. coli strains consisting, of 194, 76 and 107 isolates from patients with cystitis, pyelonephritis and prostatitis, respectively, and 80 isolates from the rectal flora of healthy individuals were subjected to polymerase chain reaction to determine the afa operon as well as afaE subtypes.


RESULTS
We identified 32 afa positive isolates of 377 strains (8.5%) and 2 of 80 strains (2.5%) from urinary tract infection isolates and normal flora, respectively. When afaE subtypes were determined, the afaE3 subtype predominated in afa positive isolates from cystitis (64.7%), pyelonephritis (66.7%) and prostatitis (50%). However, the afaE8 subtype was absent from urinary tract infection isolates, while only 1 isolate from the stool of a healthy adult harbored this subtype.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data show that the afaE3 subtype predominated in pyelonephritis as well as in other urinary tract infections, indicating that the afa gene may be important in urinary tract infection. However, the distribution of afaE subtypes may be diverse in different areas of the world.