Achieving cross-protective efficacy against multiple bacterial strains or serotypes is an important goal of vaccine design. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is an important cause of diarrheal disease in underdeveloped nations. We have been interested in identifying and characterizing ETEC antigens that generate protective immune responses independent of ETEC colonization factor (CF) expr...

Four multiplex PCR assays for detection of 19 enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) colonization factors and an improved ETEC toxin multiplex PCR were developed and tested on Bangladeshi and Bolivian ETEC strain collections. The assays will be useful for surveillance of ETEC infections in diagnostic laboratories that have access to PCR.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) causes childhood diarrhea in developing countries. ETEC strains produce the heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) and/or heat-stable enterotoxins (ST) and encode a diverse set of colonization factors used for adherence to intestinal epithelial cells. We previously found that ETEC secretes a heat-stable protein we designated as ETEC Secreted Factor (ESF) that inhib...

This study evaluated the protective effect of Bacillus subtilis HH2 on beagles orally challenged with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). We assessed physiological parameters and severity diarrhea, as well changes in three serum immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM), plasma diamine oxidase (DAO), D-lactate (D-LA), fecal microbiome. Feeding B. significantly reduced diarrhea after ETEC challenge (...

BACKGROUND Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) are common causes of diarrheal morbidity and mortality in developing countries for which there is currently no vaccine. Heterogeneity in classical ETEC antigens known as colonization factors (CFs) and poor efficacy of toxoid-based approaches to date have impeded development of a broadly protective ETEC vaccine, prompting searches for novel mole...

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a major cause of childhood diarrhea. The present study sought to determine the prevalence and distribution of toxin types, colonization factors (CFs), and antimicrobial susceptibility of ETEC strains isolated from Peruvian children. We analyzed ETEC strains isolated from Peruvian children between 2 and 24 months of age in a passive surveillance study. ...

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) causes diarrhea in travelers, young children and piglets, but the precise pathogenesis of ETEC induced diarrhea is not fully known. Recent investigations have shown that tight junction (TJ) proteins and aquaporin 3 (AQP 3) are contributing factors in bacterial diarrhea. In this study, using immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry analyses, we found that E...

Porcine enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) continues to result in major morbidity and mortality in the swine industry via postweaning diarrhea. The key virulence factors of ETEC strains, their serotypes, and their fimbrial components have been well studied. However, most studies to date have focused on plasmid-encoded traits related to colonization and toxin production, and the chromosomal...

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a common cause of profuse watery diarrhoea in the developing world, often leading to severe dehydration or death. We found only 15 population-based studies in low and medium human development index (HDI) countries from 1984 to 2005 that evaluate disease incidence. Reported incidence ranged from 39 to 4460 infections/1000 persons per year. The peak inci...

Abstract Recent studies suggest that the intestinal microenvironment regulate lung immune cells. Conversely, changes in can modulate gut system. Yet, mucosal-associated responses have been studied a compartmentalized manner, as if there is no communication between different organs. Thus, role of gut-lung axis mucosal poorly understood. Using enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), we establish...