The bacterium Escherichia coli coexists as a commensal in human intestines and can be isolated from the stool of most people. However, there are also pathogenic strains of E. coli. Some of these are capable of causing intestinal diseases, namely intestinal pathogenic E. coli (IPEC) or diarrheagenic E. coli (DEC). DEC are divided into six main pathotypes: enterohemorrhagic or verotoxigenic E. coli (EHEC or VTEC), enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) and diffusely adherent E. coli (DAEC). The purpose of the master's thesis was to determine how often the clinically most important DEC pathotypes (knDEC) occur among E. coli isolates, isolated from stool samples from patients with severe diarrhea (ECB), obtained in an outpatient environment requiring hospitalization, and control group of people without diarrhea (ECK). We examined 90 ECB isolates and 40 ECK isolates. The patients with diarrhea were further divided into patients who had acquired diarrhea outside Europe, the USA or Australia (ECBP), and patients who acquired diarrhea in domestic environment (ECBD). Using the molecular PCR method and commercialy available "Diarrhoeagenic E. coli PCR kit", manufactured by SSI Diagnostica, we examined knDEC in all 135 studied isolates by identifiying specific molecular markers (eltA, estA, vtx1, vtx2, eae and ipaH), which identified four major knDEC pathotypes – EIEC, EPEC, EHEC/VTEC, ETEC. Using the serotyping method and the antiserum sets manufactured by SSI Diagnostica and Denka Seiken, O serogroup was determined for all knDEC isolates. Among the knDEC ECB isolates we observed EPEC – A/EEC (14/95 isolates; 15 %) and ETEC (7/95; 7 %). Among the knDEC ECK we observed EPEC – A/EEC (7/40 isolates; 18 %) and VTEC (2/40; 5 %). We detected no EIEC isolates in any of the groups. Among ECB and ECK, there were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of knDEC (p = 0.960), therefore our hypothesis that knDEC is more common in patients with severe diarrhea can be discarded. Among the knDEC ECBD we observed EPEC – A/EEC (8/49 isolates; 16 %) and ETEC (1/49; 2 %) Among the knDEC ECBP we observed EPEC – A/EEC (6/46 isolates; 13 %) and ETEC (6/46, 13 %). The differences in incidence among the groups were not statistically significant (p = 0.365). The differences in the incidence of knDEC among ECBD and ECK were not statistically significant (p = 0.521). In comparing the occurrence of knDEC isolates among the ECBP and ECK, there were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of knDEC (p = 0.699), but the statistically significantly more frequent occurrence of the ETEC pathotype among the ECBP was observed compared to ECK (p = 0.042). Comparing our study to others in Europe and to the epidemiological monitoring of E. coli infections in Slovenia, performed by the Slovenian Public Health Institute, it showed comparable results of infections with the four main knDEC pathotypes – EIEC, EPEC, EHEC/VTEC, ETEC.
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