K1 Antigen Is Associated with Different AST Profile in <i>Escherichia coli</i>: A One-Month-Long Pilot Study

<i>Escherichia coli</i> is responsible for diseases of varying severity. The “K” antigen designates the capsular polysaccharides on the bacterial surface, which are mostly similar to those of highly pathogenic bacteria. The K1 antigen is often found in pathogenic <i>E. coli</i&g...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Maelys Proquot, Lovasoa Najaraly Jamal, Chloe Plouzeau-Jayle, Anthony Michaud, Lauranne Broutin, Christophe Burucoa, Julie Cremniter, Maxime Pichon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
Series:Microorganisms
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/9/9/1884
Description
Summary:<i>Escherichia coli</i> is responsible for diseases of varying severity. The “K” antigen designates the capsular polysaccharides on the bacterial surface, which are mostly similar to those of highly pathogenic bacteria. The K1 antigen is often found in pathogenic <i>E. coli</i>. Aim: While the published studies on the AST profile of K1-positive <i>E. coli</i> have focused on pregnant women or newborns, this study aimed to characterize the AST profile of K1-positive <i>E. coli</i> independently of the clinical sample of isolation. Over a 4-week-long period, all patients hospitalized/consulting at the Poitiers University Hospital presenting a determined AST on <i>E. coli</i> were prospectively included to define their K1-status (Pastorex Meningitis) and to collect the clinical (age/sex) or biological metadata (AST/MIC). Among the 296 included samples, no differential representation was observed between K1 results regarding sample nature. K1-negative results were associated with multiple antibiotic-resistance (12.3% vs. 33.0%; <i>p</i> < 0.01). AST phenotypes differed between these groups, with a higher proportion of K1-negativity among resistant strains, especially on β-lactams (ureidopenicillin, 25.8% vs. 14.9%; and ampicillin/inhibitor, 50.0% vs. 26.8%; <i>p</i> < 0.05) or quinolone (19.8% vs. 7.0%) and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (30.2% vs. 12.3%) (<i>p</i> < 0.01). This study analyzed <i>E. coli</i> ASTs in clinical samples of all types, regarding their K1-antigen status.
ISSN:2076-2607