BACKGROUND Integrin beta-5 (ITGB5) and mucin 13 (MUC13) genes are highly expressed on the apical surface of intestinal epithelia and are thought to be candidate genes for controlling the expression of the receptor for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) F4ac. Human MUC13 protein has an expected role in protecting intestinal mucosal surfaces and porcine ITGB5 is a newly identified potential ...

An outbreak of gastrointestinal illness with clinical and epidemiologic features of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) occurred among patrons of a restaurant during April 1991. Illnesses among several groups of patrons were characterized by diarrhea (100%) and cramps (79%-88%) lasting a median of 3-5 days. Median incubation periods ranged from 50 to 56 h. A nonmotile strain of E. coli (E. ...

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the predominant nonpathogenic facultative flora of the human intestine [1]. However, several strains of E. coli have developed the ability to cause disease in humans. Strains of E. coli that cause gastroenteritis in humans can be grouped into six categories: enteroaggregative (EAEC), enterohemorrhagic (EHEC), enteroinvasive (EIEC), enteropathogenic (EPEC), enteroto...

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality due to infectious diarrhea in developing countries for which there is presently no effective vaccine. A central challenge in ETEC vaccinology has been the identification of conserved surface antigens to formulate a broadly protective vaccine. Here, we demonstrate that EatA, an immunogenic secreted serine proteas...

Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) causes dysentery; however, it is less widely reported than other etiological agents in studies of diarrhea worldwide. Between August 2003 and July 2005, stool samples were collected in case-control studies in 22 rural communities in northwestern Ecuador. Infection was assessed by PCR specific for LT and STa genes of enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), the bfp ...

Given recent evidence suggesting that the heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) provides a colonization advantage for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) in vivo, we hypothesized that LT preconditions the host intestinal epithelium for ETEC adherence. To test this hypothesis, we used an in vitro model of ETEC adherence to examine the role of LT in promoting bacterium-host interactions. We present da...

A multiplex PCR system was developed for specific identification of genes encoding heat-labile (LTI) and heat-stable (STI and STII) toxins of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains. In addition, primers specific for the E. coli gene coding for 16S rRNA were used as an internal control of the DNA amplification. The specificity of the method was validated by single PCR tests performed wi...

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) are a leading cause of diarrheal illness in developing countries. Despite the discovery of these pathogens as a cause of cholera-like diarrhea over 40 years ago, and decades of vaccine development effort, there remains no broadly protective ETEC vaccine. The discovery of new virulence proteins and an improved appreciation of the complexity of the molecula...

background and objectives: diarrheagenic escherichia coli (dec) strains are a major cause of intestinal syndromes in the developing countries. the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of enterotoxigenic e. coli (etec) and enteroinvasive e. coli (eiec) in relation to phylogenetic background from patients with diarrhea. materials and methods: a total of 110 e. coli isolates were obta...

A first-generation oral inactivated whole-cell enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) vaccine, comprising formalin-killed ETEC bacteria expressing different colonization factor (CF) antigens combined with cholera toxin B subunit (CTB), when tested in phase III studies did not significantly reduce overall (generally mild) ETEC diarrhea in travelers or children although it reduced more severe ET...