Nunes Pedro Henrique Soares, Valiatti Tiago Barcelos, Santos Ana Carolina de Mello, Nascimento Júllia Assis da Silva, Santos-Neto José Francisco, Rocchetti Talita Trevizani, Yu Maria Cecilia Zorat, Hofling-Lima Ana Luisa, Gomes Tânia Aparecida Tardelli
Laboratório Experimental de Patogenicidade de Enterobactérias (LEPE), Disciplina de Microbiologia, Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia (DMIP), Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM), Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Sao Paulo 04023-062, Brazil.
Laboratório de Oftalmologia (LOFT), Departamento de Oftalmologia e Ciências Visuais, Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM), Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Sao Paulo 04023-062, Brazil.
Microorganisms. 2022 May 25;10(6):1084. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10061084.
While primarily Gram-positive bacteria cause bacterial eye infections, several Gram-negative species also pose eye health risks. Currently, few studies have tried to understand the pathogenic mechanisms involved in eye infections. Therefore, this study aimed to establish the pathogenic potential of strains isolated from eye infections. Twenty-two strains isolated between 2005 and 2019 from patients with keratitis or conjunctivitis were included and submitted to traditional polymerase chain reactions (PCR) to define their virulence profile, phylogeny, clonal relationship, and sequence type (ST). Phenotypic assays were employed to determine hemolytic activity, antimicrobial susceptibility, and adhesion to human primary corneal epithelial cells (PCS-700-010). The phylogenetic results indicated that groups B2 and ST131 were the most frequent. Twenty-five virulence genes were found among our strains, with , , , and being the most prevalent. Two strains presented a hemolytic phenotype, and resistance to ciprofloxacin and ertapenem was found in six strains and one strain, respectively. Regarding adherence, all but one strains adhered in vitro to corneal cells. Our results indicate significant genetic and virulence variation among ocular strains and point to an ocular pathogenic potential related to multiple virulence mechanisms.
虽然主要是革兰氏阳性细菌引起细菌性眼部感染，但几种革兰氏阴性菌也对眼部健康构成风险。目前，很少有研究试图了解眼部感染所涉及的致病机制。因此，本研究旨在确定从眼部感染中分离出的菌株的致病潜力。纳入了2005年至2019年间从角膜炎或结膜炎患者中分离出的22株菌株，并进行传统聚合酶链反应（PCR）以确定其毒力谱、系统发育、克隆关系和序列类型（ST）。采用表型分析来确定溶血活性、抗菌药敏性以及对人原代角膜上皮细胞（PCS - 700 - 010）的粘附性。系统发育结果表明，B2组和ST131最为常见。在我们的菌株中发现了25个毒力基因，其中 、 、 和 最为普遍。两株呈现溶血表型，分别有6株和1株对环丙沙星和厄他培南耐药。关于粘附性，除一株外，所有菌株均在体外粘附于角膜细胞。我们的结果表明眼部菌株之间存在显著的遗传和毒力差异，并指出与多种毒力机制相关的眼部致病潜力。
