Typing of the uropathogenic E.coli strains using O-serotyping and detection of pap adhesion-encoding operon by polymerase chain reaction

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a frequently diagnosed renal and urologic disease. Escherichia coli is by far the most common etiologic agent of this disease. This study was aimed to type the E.coli strains isolated from the patients with urinary tract infection using sero-grouping. Detection of pap adhesion-encoding operon was also targeted. Patients and methods: A total of 130 E. coli strains isolated from patients with UTI were investigated for O-serotyping. The presence of pap adhesion-encoding operon was detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: In serogrouping with 13 antisera, 86 strains (66.14%) were O-serogroupable and belonging to O1, O6, O15, O18 & O20 serogroups, while 44 strains (33.86%) were O-non typeable. Predominant serogroups were O6 and O18. The PCR results showed that 61% of strains exhibited the pap genotype. Serogroups O1, O6, O15 and O18 possessed pap operon. There was an obvious correlation between the pap operon and the O-serogroups of the strains. Conclusion: Our results showed that obtained protein patterns of the isolated strains were more reliable than serotyping results for typing purposes. Our findings indicated that pap adhesion–encoding operon has an important role in the development and severity of UTI. Many cases of serious urogenital diseases are caused by a limited number of uropathogenic E.coli strains that generally possess special virulence factors such as pap operon.