Hemagglutination and adhesiveness of toxigenic Escherichia coli isolated from humans

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Abstract
Toxigenic strains of E. coli isolated from humans were studied for adherence to human buccal mucosal epithelial cells. The E. coli strains were labeled with 3H-amino acids or fluorescein isothiocyanate. Toxigenic E. coli strains varied in their ability to adhere in the presence of mannose. Of 32 toxigenic strains examined, 52% bound to the buccal cells, whereas none of 8 control strains did so (Mann-Whitney U test, P = 0.007). The control strains were nontoxigenic E. coli isolates from humans, enterotoxigenic E. coli isolates from animals, and E. coli K-12 containing the K88 or K99 plasmid; these strains exhibited only background-level adherence in this assay. Among the toxigenic E. coli strains that bound to human buccal mucosal cells, there was no correlation with mannose-resistant hemagglutination (MR-HA) of guinea pig and human erythrocytes. Screening 32 strains, the following phenotypes were found: MR-HA+, buccal adherent; MR-HA+, buccal nonadherent; MR-HA-, buccal adherent. Presumably the 3rd group represents strains with another type(s) of surface attachment components not involved in the MR-HA reaction. The findings indicate that a number of bacterial surface structures can function in MR-HA and buccal adherence.