Chair of Microbiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 18 Czysta Str, 31-121, Kracow, Poland.
Microbiological Laboratory, Diagnostics Inc. Krakow Branch, Na Skarpie 66 axis, 31-913, Kracow, Poland.
Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2017 Sep;36(9):1643-1649. doi: 10.1007/s10096-017-2978-8. Epub 2017 Apr 11.
Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS) is one of the major human pathogenic bacteria that cause a wide range of diseases. Currently, increased incidence of streptococcal invasive infections is observed worldwide. In this study, we focused on the prevalence of genes encoding superantigens and type M proteins in the population of GAS strains from invasive versus non-invasive infections. We tested 253 GAS strains: 48 strains from patients with invasive infections (18 from wound/deep skin localization, 30 from women in labour) and 205 strains from non-invasive forms (147 from common infections of the upper respiratory, 49 from the vagina of females with genital tract infections and 9 from non-invasive wound and superficial skin infections). Significant differences were found in the occurrence of genes: speG, speI, speJ and smeZ, which were more common in GAS isolated from invasive than from non-invasive strains; speJ and smeZ occurred more frequently in strains from invasive perinatal infections versus strains from women without symptoms of invasive infection; speH and speI in strains from invasive skin/wound infection versus strains isolated from non-invasive wound and superficial skin infections. Emm types 1 and 12 predominated in the group of strains isolated from superficial infections and type 28 in those from puerperal fever. Occurrence of genes encoding virulence factors is common in genomic DNA of most of S. pyogenes, regardless whether these streptococcal infections are invasive or non-invasive. On the other hand, it appears that strains with speG, speI, speJ and smeZ genes may have a particular potential for virulence.
化脓链球菌（GAS）是引起多种疾病的主要人类病原菌之一。目前，世界各地观察到链球菌侵袭性感染的发病率增加。在这项研究中，我们专注于侵袭性和非侵袭性感染的 GAS 菌株中编码超抗原和 M 蛋白基因的流行情况。我们测试了 253 株 GAS 菌株：48 株来自侵袭性感染患者（18 株来自伤口/深部皮肤定位，30 株来自分娩妇女），205 株来自非侵袭性形式（147 株来自上呼吸道常见感染，49 株来自生殖道感染女性的阴道，9 株来自非侵袭性伤口和浅层皮肤感染）。发现基因 speG、speI、speJ 和 smeZ 的发生存在显著差异，这些基因在侵袭性分离株中比非侵袭性分离株更为常见；speJ 和 smeZ 在侵袭性围产期感染分离株中比无症状侵袭性感染的妇女分离株更为常见；speH 和 speI 在侵袭性皮肤/伤口感染分离株中比非侵袭性伤口和浅层皮肤感染分离株更为常见。emm 型 1 和 12 在浅层感染分离株中占优势，28 型在产褥热分离株中占优势。编码毒力因子的基因在大多数化脓链球菌的基因组 DNA 中普遍存在，无论这些链球菌感染是侵袭性的还是非侵袭性的。另一方面，似乎具有 speG、speI、speJ 和 smeZ 基因的菌株可能具有特殊的毒力潜力。
