Genomic analysis of STEC in children reveals insights into toxic emerging fo

Buffalo, NY-Food poisoning pathogens are very common and usually benign, but certain virulent strains of the pathogen can lead to serious illness and death. Distinguishing specific strains of pathogens helps scientists better understand them, develop biomarkers to help detect them in patients, and facilitate diagnosis and treatment.

Researchers at the University of Buffalo have completed a genomic analysis of certain strains of Shiga toxin E. coli (STEC) It can cause serious disease outbreaks and is becoming more and more common. This study could play a role in expanding understanding of STEC infections and in some cases developing vaccines against them.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, STEC is estimated to cause more than 265,000 infectious diseases annually in the United States and is associated with more than 3,600 hospitalizations and about 30 deaths.

Published in BMC genomics Last month, this paper described a genome analysis completed on a unique STEC strain isolated from a healthy 2½-year-old child living in Davidson County, Tennessee. Pathogens caused serious illnesses, including hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that destroys red blood cells, lowers platelets, and blocks the blood vessels of the kidneys, causing anemia and kidney damage.

The child survived, but was hospitalized for a month and sustained severe complications affecting multiple organ systems including the lungs, heart, kidneys, brain, circulatory system and digestive tract.

Growing public health problems

Shiga toxin production E. coli She is a STEC other than infected-0157. Although pathogens classified as 0157 STEC infections are generally more common and cause more severe disease, the number of emerging STEC pathogens other than 0157 is increasing. Some have led to serious illness and increased public health concerns, according to UB researchers.

Over 400 of these non-0157 STEC strains, more than a quarter of which are reported to cause gastrointestinal disease, first appear as bloody diarrhea with hemolytic-uremic syndrome and rarely die if untreated There are also cases.

The specific pathogen that the child was infected with was STEC 0145:H25. “Because of the limited genomic research on emerging STECs other than -0157, our work is important to reveal the genetic makeup of emerging STEC 0145:H25 compared to other STEC strains,” Oscar G said. Dr. Gómez-Duarte, Ph.D., is the author of this paper, an associate professor and chief of the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases in Pediatrics at UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Medicine, and a pediatrician at UBMD Pediatrics.

Photo: http: // www.Buffalo.edu /news/release/2020 /09 /001.html

“This finding shows how this new STEC causes severe disease and is more virulent than the more common STEC strains, and even more virulent and susceptible to sensitive hosts. It has been shown that it can cause various diseases,” he said. “It also provides information on how this potentially preventable infection continues to affect vulnerable individuals.”

Virulence gene

An important finding in the study was that the 0145:H25 serotype causes a particularly serious infection, he said. Furthermore, in addition to carrying the virulence genes present in 0157 STEC, there are additional genes and new potential virulence genes compared to other non-0157 strains studied. “These findings deserve further analysis to understand the etiology of these urgent STEC infections,” Gómez-Duarte said.

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The analyzes were conducted in collaboration with pediatric researchers and colleagues at UB’s New York State Bioinformatics and Life Science Center of Excellence. Expertise in bioinformatics and whole-genome sequencing has allowed the team to uncover important genetic information to understand where these strains are derived from unique reservoirs such as contaminated food and infected livestock. , How it can be tracked.

Gómez-Duarte is an expert on infectious gastrointestinal disorders and diarrhea in children. He established the International Enteric Vaccine Research Program (IEVRP), an international health research program dedicated to the study of epidemiology, etiology, and vaccine development of pediatric gastrointestinal infections in the United States and abroad. We are also conducting vaccine development research on childhood infectious diseases.

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