Evaluating the prevalence of virulence genes of Escherichia coli in patients affected by urinary tract infection

Urinary tract infection due to Escherichia coli remains to be a major health problem worldwide. UPEC is one of the major causes of urinary tract infections among the general public. These bacteria have various virulence factors, including adhesion and toxins. Pilli P and FimA are the main members of E. coli adhesion in the pathogenesis of urinary tract infections. Due to high prevalence of urinary tract infections in the community, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of fimA, hly-A and papG virulence genes in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli in Iranian female adults with urinary tract infections. From March to October 2016, 200 urine samples were collected from 200 inpatient and outpatient women. The Escherichia coli bacteria was detected and isolated, using biochemical techniques and supplementary tests in the Microbiology Laboratory of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences. Then virulence factors were identified by PCR method. The prevalence of papG, fimA and hiyA were 44, 74 and 26% of in inpatients and 52%, 76% and 28%, in outpatients, respectively. There was a significant correlation between papG and pyelonephritis in inpatients. There was no relationship between the frequency of papG, fimA and hlyA genes, and cystitis. The results of this study indicated that the fimA gene was the most frequent among the general public, and the hlyA gene was the least frequent and the papG gene was associated with pyelonephritis.