AUTHOR=Bosák Juraj , Kohoutová Darina , Hrala Matěj , Křenová Jitka , Morávková Paula , Rejchrt Stanislav , Bureš Jan , Šmajs David 

TITLE=Escherichia coli from biopsies differ in virulence genes between patients with colorectal neoplasia and healthy controls

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1141619

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1141619

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Pathogenic strains of <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> have been clearly identified as the causative agents of extraintestinal and diarrheal infections; however, the etiopathogenic role of <italic>E. coli</italic> in other conditions, including colorectal cancer, remains unclear.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>This study aimed to characterize mucosal <italic>E. coli</italic> isolates (<italic>n</italic> = 246) from 61 neoplasia patients and 20 healthy controls for the presence of 35 genetic determinants encoding known virulence factors.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Virulence determinants encoding invasin (<italic>ibeA</italic>), siderophore receptor (<italic>iroN</italic>), S-fimbriae (<italic>sfa</italic>), and genotoxin (<italic>usp</italic>) were more prevalent among <italic>E. coli</italic> isolated from patients with neoplasia compared to the control group (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). In addition, the prevalence of these virulence determinants was increased in more advanced neoplasia stages (<italic>p</italic><sub>adj</sub> &lt; 0.0125). Compared to patients with advanced colorectal adenoma and carcinoma, the <italic>ibeA</italic> gene was rarely found in the control group and among patients with non-advanced adenoma (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05), indicating its potential as the advanced-neoplasia biomarker. Patients with neoplasia frequently had <italic>E. coli</italic> strains with at least one of the abovementioned virulence factors, whereby specific combinations of these virulence factors were found.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>These findings suggest that <italic>E. coli</italic> strains isolated from patients with colorectal neoplasia possess several virulence factors, which could contribute to the development of neoplastic processes in the large intestine.</p></sec>