Application of multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for simultaneous quantification of Escherichia coli virulence genes in oysters

The purpose of this study was to apply our rapid, integrated double enrichment 5′ nuclease real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and evaluate its efficacy. The assay targeted ground beef, an important vehicle in disease epidemiology. The assay reliably determined in 8 h the presence of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef at the level of 1 colony-forming unit (CFU)/g. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay were compared with that of standard enrichment diagnostic techniques. A correlation of 100% in detection was achieved to the limit of 1 CFU/g. This assay can be used as a rapid, automatic process for identification of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef or can be integrated with standard culture procedures, resulting in considerable cost and time savings.Key words: real-time PCR, E. coli O157:H7, ground beef, molecular diagnostics, rapid O157:H7 assay.

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Molecular Analysis of Uropathogenic E.coli Isolates from Urinary Tract Infections

Infectious Disorders - Drug Targets ◽

10.2174/1871526518666181113091322 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 322-326 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hassan Valadbeigi ◽

Elham Esmaeeli ◽

Sobhan Ghafourian ◽

Abbas Maleki ◽

Nourkhoda Sadeghifard

Keyword(s):

Escherichia Coli ◽

Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽

Urinary Tract ◽

Urinary Tract Infections ◽

Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽

Virulence Genes ◽

Uropathogenic Escherichia Coli ◽

Chain Reaction ◽

Polymerase Chain ◽

Tract Infections

Introduction: The aim of the current study was to investigate the prevalence of virulence genes in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolates in Ilam. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, a total of 80 UPEC isolates were collected for patients with UTIs during a 6 months period. The multiplex polymerase chain reaction (multiplex PCR) was used to detect the papEF, fimH, iucD, hlyA, fyuA, and ompT genes. Results: The prevalence of fimH, papEF, iucD, fyuA, hlyA, hlyA, and ompT genes were 87.5%, 47.5%, 60%, 67.5%, 27.5%, 47.5% and 71.2%, respectively. Among all of the isolates, 27 profiles were obtained. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that the most prevalence was found for fimH, and different distribution of virulence genes suggested different ability of pathogenicity.

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AB0691 ANALYSIS OF SARS-COV-2 ANTIBODIES IN NON-COVID-19 PATIENTS: COMPARISON BETWEEN SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS PATIENTS AND HEALTHY CONTROLS

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases ◽

10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-eular.3143 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽

pp. 1379.1-1379

Author(s):

L. Giardullo ◽

C. Rotondo ◽

A. Corrado ◽

N. Maruotti ◽

R. Colia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽

Systemic Sclerosis ◽

Autoimmune Disease ◽

Reverse Transcriptase ◽

Real Time ◽

Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay ◽

Nuclear Antigen ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Chain Reaction ◽

Polymerase Chain

Background:Previous study evidenced a cross-reactivity between Sars-Cov-2 antibodies and autoimmune tissue antigen involved in connective tissue diseases, as nuclear antigen (NA), extractable nuclear antigen (ENA), histone and collagen (1). No study has been published about the titer of Sars-Cov-2 antibodies in non-infected patients with autoimmune disease.Objectives:To evaluate the titer of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in non-COVID-19 patients and compare it between systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients and healthy controls (HC).Methods:A total of 58 patients with SSc (who fulfilled ACR/EULAR 2013 SSc classification criteria) and 18 HC were enrolled. Sera of all participants were collected, and SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG and IgM) were evaluated by means ELISA. In all participants swabs for SARS-CoV-2 by real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction assay were reported negative. Demographic, clinical, and autoimmune serological characteristics of SSc patients were recorded. The normal distribution was assessed using the Shapiro–Wilk’s test. Exclusion criteria was previous or actual Sars-Cov-2 infection. Comparisons between study groups of patients were evaluated by the Student’s t-test or Mann – Whitney U-test as appropriate. The differences between categorial variables were assessed by Pearson chi-square or Fisher’s exact test, as opportune. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.Results:We observed significant differences between SSc patients and HC in serum levels of Sars-Cov-2 antibodies (IgG: 1,4±2,1 AU/ml vs 0,36±0,19 AU/ml respectively (p=0,001); and IgM: 2,5±3,1 AU/ml vs 0,8±0,7 AU/ml (p=0,022)). In 5 SSc patients was found titer of Sars-Cov-2 antibodies (IgG) exceeding the cut-off, but the control of swabs for SARS-CoV-2 by real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction assay were negative. No significative differences in Sars-Cov-2 autoantibodies titer were found in subgroup of SSc patients with or without ILD or PAH, limited or diffuse skin subset, and different autoantibodies profile. Furthermore, antibodies titer was not associated with different drugs (steroid, methotrexate, mofetil-mycophenolate and bosentan) in use.Conclusion:A cross mimicking between Sars-Cov-2 antibodies and antinuclear antibodies or anti ENA could be hypothesized. Further studies are necessary to unravel the reliability of Sars-Cov-2 antibodies detection in autoimmune disease.References:[1]Vojdani, A., Vojdani, E., & Kharrazian, D. (2021). Reaction of human monoclonal antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 proteins with tissue antigens: Implications for autoimmune diseases. Frontiers in Immunology, 11, 3679Disclosure of Interests:None declared

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