Determination of the Frequency of Adhesion Virulence Factors in Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) Strains Isolated from Hospitalized Patients in Babol

Background and Aims: Uropathogenic E.coli is one of the most known causes of urinary tract infections, which may lead to a high rate of morbidity and mortality in high risk patients. In this regard, the virulence factors such as bacterial adhesion molecules have a critical role. The current study was intended to determine the molecular properties of adhesion genes in Uropathogenic E.coli strains isolated from hospitalized patients in Babol, north of Iran. Materials and Methods: During a nine-months of study, 90 Uropathogenic E.coli strains were confirmed by differential biochemical and microbiological standard tests, antimicrobial susceptibility test, and molecular polymerase chain reaction assay were obtained for evaluating the frequency of adhesion genes. Results: According to the results, the highest rate of resistance and susceptibility were belonged to penicillin and imipenem respectively. On the other hand, the percentage of fimH gene among other virulence genes was reported to be 66%. Conclusions: The present study showed that a high level of uropathogenic E.coli isolates which harbored the adhesion factors may lead to distribution of multiple antimicrobial resistance strains.