The prevalence of the iutA and ibeA genes in Escherichia coli isolates from severe and non-severe patients with bacteremic acute biliary tract infection is significantly different

Background Although Escherichia coli is the most frequently isolated microorganism in acute biliary tract infections with bacteremia, data regarding its virulence are limited. Results Information on cases of bacteremia in acute biliary tract infection in a retrospective study was collected from 2013 to 2015 at a tertiary care hospital in Japan. Factors related to the severity of infection were investigated, including patient background, phylogenetic typing, and virulence factors of E. coli, such as adhesion, invasion, toxins, and iron acquisition. In total, 72 E. coli strains were identified in 71 cases, most of which primarily belonged to the B2 phylogroup (68.1%). The presence of the iutA gene (77.3% in the non-severe group, 46.4% in the severe group, P = 0.011) and the ibeA gene (9.1% in the non-severe group, and 35.7% in the severe group, P = 0.012) was significantly associated with the severity of infection. Among the patient characteristics, diabetes mellitus with organ involvement and alkaline phosphatase were different in the severe and non-severe groups. Conclusions We showed that bacteremic E. coli strains from acute biliary tract infections belonged to the virulent (B2) phylogroup. The prevalence of the iutA and ibeA genes between the two groups of bacteremia severity was significantly different.

Escherichia coli virulence factors iutA, an iron acquisition factor, and ibeA, an invasion factor, are related to severity of bacteremic acute biliary tract infections

BackgroundAlthough Escherichia coli is the most frequently isolated organism in acute biliary tract infections with bacteremia, data regarding its virulence are limited.ResultsBacteremic acute biliary tract infection cases in a retrospective study were collected from 2013 to 2015 at a tertiary care hospital in Japan. Factors related to the severity of infection were investigated, including patient background, phylogenetic typing, and virulence factors of E. coli, such as adhesion, invasion, toxins, and iron acquisition. In total, 72 E. coli strains were identified in 71 cases, most of which primarily belonged to the phylogenetic B2 group (68%). The presence of IutA (77.3% in the non-severe group, 46.4% in the severe group, P = 0.011) and ibeA (9.1% in the non-severe group, and 35.7% in the severe group, P = 0.012) were significantly associated with severity of infection, whereas patient characteristics did not relate to the severity of infection.ConclusionsWe showed that bacteremic E. coli strains from acute biliary tract infections belonged to a virulent (B2) group. The severity of biliary tract infection depended on iutA and ibeA.