Tabari Biomedical Student Research Journal

Background & Objectives: Escherichia coli is the most common agent of
urinary tract infections, with P fimbriae as the most important virulence factor.
Uropathogenic Escherichia coli expresses various types of adhesive genes such
as P fimbriae and pyelonephritis-associated pili (PAP), which mediate the binding
to the surface of epithelial cells in the urinary tract. This study aimed to identify
papG and papC genes and evaluate the antibiotic resistance of isolated Escherichia
coli samples.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 100 urinary samples were
collected from patients with urinary tract infections, referring to Kerman healthcare
centers. After culturing in specific media, 50 isolates were identified and confirmed,
using biochemical tests. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed via
disk diffusion method. The presence of papG and papC genes was analyzed by
multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method.
Results: The results showed that Escherichia coli isolates were sensitive to amikacin
(100%) and nitrofurantoin (94%), while they showed resistance to ampicillin
(92%). Based on the findings, 13 samples (26%) contained papG genes. Also,
20% of the samples had papG II, (6%), papG III, and papC genes; however, papG
was not detected in any of the samples.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that papG II and papC genes were
the most common genes encoding fimbriae in Escherichia coli isolates from urinary
tract infections. The discrepancy between the present findings and previous
research may be due to the diversity of geographical regions where the samples
were obtained.