| خلاصه مقاله | Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most prevalent infectious diseases, and Escherichia coli is the most prevalent pathogen isolated from patients with UTIs. The products of sfa, afa and foc genes play a pivotal role in the binding of the bacterium to urinary tract epithelium
Objective: Our aim was to investigate these genes in E. colis isolated from patients with UTIS.
Context: This research was a cross-sectional study that was performed on urine samples of 150 patients with urinary tract infection who had been admitted at Amir Almomenin’s Hospital. The frequencies of the genes were determined using PCR. Biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance rates were determined using microtiter plate and disk diffusion methods, respectively. The P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The frequencies of sfa, afa and foc were 75.3%, 17.5% and 22.5%, respectively, indicating a significantly higher prevalence of the sfa gene. The most effective antibiotics against the E. coli were nitrofurantoin and amikacin. The highest microbial resistance rates were also observed against amoxicillin and ampicillin. Furthermore, the isolates demonstrated a capacity to form biofilms, with 12.7% exhibiting strong, 6.3% exhibiting moderate, 74.7% exhibiting weak, and 6.3% exhibiting no capacity to form biofilms. The expression of the sfa gene was found to be significantly associated with the formation of strong biofilms.
Conclusion: Regarding the variability in the characteristics of E. coli strains associated with UTIs, it appears rational to adjust diagnostic and therapeutic methods according to the regional microbial characteristics. |