INVITRO ATTACHMENT TO A HUMAN CELL-LINE OF ESCHERICHIA-COLI STRAINS CAUSING URINARY-TRACT INFECTION - OCCURRENCE OF FIMBRIAE (PILI) IN ADHESIVE AND NON-ADHESIVE STRAINS

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. A133  (3) , 357-+
Abstract
Twenty strains of E. coli, isolated from infected urinary-tracts, were screened for the occurrence of hemagglutinating (HA) activity and for the possible relationshlip between a fimbriate surface structure and adhesion ability to the surface of a human cell line. Only 8 of the 20 adhesive strains agglutinated human or guinea-pig erythrocytes or both. In 7 of the 8 strains, the hemagglutinating activity with human erythrocytes was D-mannose-resistant; 1 strains was D-mannose-sensitive with guinea-pig red blood cells (RBC). In 40 non-adhering E. coli isolated from urine, D-mannose-resistant HA was rarely detected; in contrast, agglutination of guinea-pig was more frequent and D-mannose-sensitive when it occurred. No correlation was found between the degree of HA activity and the ability to adhere. At low-growth temperature (18.degree. C), hemagglutinin was absent in all the strains tested, whereas residual adhesion capacity could be detected in some strains. Similar results were recorded after heating the bacterial suspension at 65.degree. C. Generally, pili detected by EM were present at the surface of the strains which agglutinated RBC. There was no apparent correlation between the presence of fimbriae or pili and adhesion of E. coli to the human cell line used in this study. A range of distinct mechanisms of E. coli adhesion appeared to be involved in this phenomen.