The influence of artificial colonization with E. coli strain O83 on the intestinal flora in infants.

Dominant bacterial strains present in stool (with particular emphasis on E. coli strains) were examined in 4 groups of healthy infants: breast-fed and bottle-fed, colonized with E. coli O83, and control (non-colonized) breast-fed and bottle-fed newborns. The presence of fimbriae was examined by hemagglutination, the P-fimbriae-bearing strains were tested by the PPA latex test. In addition, adherence to cell line HT-29 and serotyping was performed in selected strains. The E. coli strain O83 was found to possess type 1 fimbriae. Fewer bacterial strains possessing type 1 fimbriae were found in E. coli O83-colonized infants (except the O83 serotype) than in control infants. The E. coli O83 strain colonized significantly better the breast-fed than the bottle-fed infants; its higher adherence activity was demonstrated even in cell line HT-29. Finally, colonization with E. coli O83 influenced the character of microbial intestinal flora: the frequency of positive E. coli isolates was significantly higher in colonized (both breast- and bottle-fed) than noncolonized infants.