Hemolytic uremic syndrome associated with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infection in Argentina: update of serotypes and genotypes and their relationship with severity of the disease

A novel multiplex and glycoprotein-based immunochromatographic serologic IgM test for the rapid diagnosis of Escherichia coli O157 and O145 causing bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are the main etiological agents of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Good clinical management of STEC infections and HUS depends on early, rapid, and accurate diagnosis. Here, we have developed and evaluated the first multiplex and glycoprotein-based immunochromatographic test for the detection of IgM antibodies against the O-polysaccharide of the lipopolysaccharide of E. coli O157 and O145 in human serum samples. A retrospective study was carried out resulting in a diagnostic sensitivity of the E. coli O157/O145 LFIA (lateral flow immunoassay) of 97.1% and 98.9% for O157 and O145, respectively, and 97.9% for both serogroups. The diagnostic specificity was 98.7% for O157 and O145, and the overall specificity 97.4%. In samples obtained before 3 days after the onset of diarrhea, the detection percentage was 83%, increasing to 100% from 3 days onward. Finally, the association of bloody diarrhea (BD) or HUS cases to an STEC infection increased from 22.8% to 77.2% when stool culture and stx/Stx detection were combined with serology by LFIA. Our results demonstrate that the E. coli O157/O145 LFIA is a highly accurate and serospecific test for the early and rapid diagnosis of E. coli O157 and O145 infections in BD or HUS cases. This test allows the detection of specific IgM antibodies very early in the course of the infection, making it an ideal diagnostic tool to be implemented in pediatric emergencies and, thus, avoid delays in the application of the correct supportive or specific treatment and prevent complications associated with HUS.

Detection of EPEC and STEC strains isolated from children with diarrhea in Argentina

Rectal swabs (122) from pediatric patients were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of EPEC and STEC. STEC isolates were tested for the presence of stx1, stx2, eae, saa and ehxA. All eae-positive samples were tested for the presence of bfpA, and antigen O was determined using the agglutination test. Int1 and Int2 were detected to identify the presence of integrons class 1 and 2, respectively. Escherichia coli was detected in 68% of the samples, of which 18.8% were STEC (2.45%) and EPEC (16.3%). Serogroups STEC O145 and EPEC O130, O113 and O157 were observed, while three strains were non-typable. None of the EPEC strains carrying tbfpA and class 1 and 2 integrons was detected in any of the samples. The results obtained are important considering the virulence profiles found in the isolated EPEC and STEC strains and the serogroups associated with disease in humans.

Kidney sequelae in 281 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli-hemolytic uremic syndrome patients after a median follow-up of 12 years

BACKGROUND

A substantial proportion of patients with Escherichia coli-hemolytic uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS) evolve to chronic kidney disease (CKD). The objectives of this study were to evaluate long-term kidney outcomes and to identify CKD predictors.

METHODS

In this single-center retrospective study, long-term outcomes of patients were analyzed according to the presence of complete recovery (CR) or CKD at last visit. Then, they were grouped into favorable (CR + CKD1) or poor (CKD2-5) outcome to compare predictors at diagnosis (sex, age, leukocytes, creatinine, hemoglobin, HUS severity score), dialysis duration, and follow-up time between them.

RESULTS

Of 281 patients followed up for a median of 12 years, 139 (49%) had CR, 104 (37%) CKD1, 27 (10%) CKD2-4, and 11 (4%) CKD5. Thirty-eight patients progressed to CKD2-5 after a median of 4.8 years, 7% in the first 5 years, increasing to 8%, 10%, and 14% after 5-10 years, 10-15 years, and > 15 years, respectively. They were younger, had higher baseline hemoglobin and leukocytes, and required longer dialysis and follow-up than those with favorable outcome. By multivariate analysis, days of dialysis and follow-up time remained as independent predictors of poor outcome. The best cutoff for days of dialysis was 10 days. After 5 years, 20% of those dialyzed ≥ 10 days evolved to CKD2-5 versus 1% of those non-dialyzed or dialyzed < 10 days.

CONCLUSIONS

Fifty-one percent of patients evolved to CKD after 12 years of follow-up and 14% to CKD2-5. Ten days of dialysis was the best cutoff to recognize outcomes. In some cases, kidney damage was evident after 15 years of surveillance, highlighting the need for follow-up until adulthood in all STEC-HUS patients.

Detection of plasma anti-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antibodies against enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) in asymptomatic kindergarten teachers from Buenos Aires province

In Argentina, hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by EHEC has the highest incidence in the world. EHEC infection has an endemo-epidemic behavior, causing 20-30% of acute bloody diarrhea syndrome in children under 5 years old. In the period 2016-2020, 272 new cases per year were notified to the National Health Surveillance System. Multiple factors are responsible for HUS incidence in Argentina including person-to-person transmission. In order to detect possible EHEC carriers, we carried out a preliminary study of the frequency of kindergarten teachers with anti-LPS antibodies against the most prevalent EHEC serotypes in Argentina. We analyzed 61 kindergarten teachers from 26 institutions from José C. Paz district, located in the suburban area of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. Fifty-one percent of the plasma samples had antibodies against O157, O145, O121 and O103 LPS: 6.4% of the positive samples had IgM isotype (n=2), 61.3% IgG isotype (n=19) and 32.3% IgM and IgG (n=10). Given that antibodies against LPS antigens are usually short-lived specific IgM detection may indicate a recent infection. In addition, the high percentage of positive samples may indicate a frequent exposure to EHEC strains in the cohort studied, as well as the existence of a large non-symptomatic population of adults carrying pathogenic strains that could contribute to the endemic behavior through person-to-person transmission. The improvement of continuous educational programs in kindergarten institutions could be a mandatory measure to reduce HUS cases not only in Argentina but also globally.

Nasal immunization with H7 flagellin protects mice against hemolytic uremic syndrome secondary to Escherichia coli O157:H7 gastrointestinal infection

Introduction

Shiga-toxin (Stx) producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 is the most frequent serotype associated with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after gastrointestinal infections. Protection against HUS secondary to STEC infections has been experimentally assayed through the generation of different vaccine formulations. With focus on patients, the strategies have been mainly oriented to inhibit production of Stx or its neutralization. However, few approaches have been intended to block gastrointestinal phase of this disease, which is considered the first step in the pathogenic cascade of HUS. The aim of this work was to assay H7 flagellin as a mucosal vaccine candidate to prevent the systemic complications secondary to E. coli O157:H7 infections.

Materials and methods

The cellular and humoral immune response after H7 nasal immunization in mice were studied by the analysis of systemic and intestinal specific antibody production, as well as cytokine production and lymphocyte proliferation against H7 flagellin ex vivo.

Results

Immunized mice developed a strong and specific anti-H7 IgG and IgA response, at systemic and mucosal level, as well as a cellular Th1/Th2/Th17 response. H7 induced activation of bone marrow derived dendritic cells in vitro and a significant delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response in immunized mice. Most relevant, immunized mice were completely protected against the challenge with an E. coli O157:H7 virulent strain in vivo, and surviving mice presented high titres of anti-H7 and Stx antibodies.

Discussion

These results suggest that immunization avoids HUS outcome and allows to elicit a specific immune response against other virulence factors.

Genome-wide association study of hemolytic uremic syndrome causing Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli from Sweden, 1994-2018

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infection can cause clinical manifestations ranging from diarrhea to potentially fatal hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). This study is aimed at identifying STEC genetic factors associated with the development of HUS in Sweden. A total of 238 STEC genomes from STEC-infected patients with and without HUS between 1994 and 2018 in Sweden were included in this study. Serotypes, Shiga toxin gene (stx) subtypes, and virulence genes were characterized in correlation to clinical symptoms (HUS and non-HUS), and pan-genome wide association study was performed. Sixty-five strains belonged to O157:H7, and 173 belonged to non-O157 serotypes. Our study revealed that strains of O157:H7 serotype especially clade 8 were most commonly found in patients with HUS in Sweden. stx2a and stx2a + stx2c subtypes were significantly associated with HUS. Other virulence factors associated with HUS mainly included intimin (eae) and its receptor (tir), adhesion factors, toxins, and secretion system proteins. Pangenome wide-association study identified numbers of accessory genes significantly overrepresented in HUS-STEC strains, including genes encoding outer membrane proteins, transcriptional regulators, phage-related proteins, and numerous genes related to hypothetical proteins. Whole-genome phylogeny and multiple correspondence analysis of pangenomes could not differentiate HUS-STEC from non-HUS-STEC strains. In O157:H7 cluster, strains from HUS patients clustered closely; however, no significant difference in virulence genes was found in O157 strains from patients with and without HUS. These results suggest that STEC strains from different phylogenetic backgrounds may independently acquire genes determining their pathogenicity and confirm that other non-bacterial factors and/or bacteria-host interaction may affect STEC pathogenesis.

HUS with mutations in CFH and STEC infection treated with eculizumab in a 4-year-old girl

BACKGROUND

Hemolytic uremic syndrome secondary to Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli infection (STEC-HUS) generally shows a favorable outcome. Few cases develop extra-renal complications, since neurological involvement is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. The role of complement in STEC-HUS has been recently highlighted, and the use of eculizumab in severe cases has been communicated. HUS results from environmental and genetic factors, but the simultaneous occurrence of STEC and complement mutations remains undetermined.

METHODS

A pediatric case with severe STEC-HUS carrying CFH mutations, with favorable response to eculizumab is analyzed.

RESULTS

STEC-HUS was diagnosed in a 4-year-old girl with classic HUS, including low C3. Peritoneal dialysis was started due to hypertension, oligoanuria, and pleural effusion. She evolved with generalized tonic-clonic seizures and required mechanical ventilation. MRI reported multiple supra- and infratentorial ischemic lesions with laminar/striatal cortical necrosis and leukoencephalopathy. After two eculizumab doses, a significative stabilization in diuresis, blood pressure, creatinine, and C3 was achieved. At the third week, episodes of massive digestive bleeding and a life-threatening condition required a colectomy thus preserving the ileocecal valve. Due to atypical evolution, a genetic study was considered, identifying two heterozygous variants (CFH S1191L/V1197A).

CONCLUSION

STEC-HUS in patients with a genetic predisposition has been previously reported, but the low frequency of occurrence makes it a rare disease. As in the present case, patients with atypical course might benefit from genetic analysis to evaluate early eculizumab initiation and to better understand its phenotype. A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information.

Etiological diagnosis of post-diarrheal hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS): humoral response contribution

BACKGROUND

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is characterized by microangiopathic hemolysis, thrombocytopenia, and thrombus formation leading to tissue injury. HUS is classified according to its etiology as post-diarrheal or atypical HUS. Differential diagnosis of both entities continues to be a challenge for pediatric physicians.

METHODS

The aim was to improve the rapid etiological diagnosis of post-diarrheal HUS cases based on the detection of Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infection by screening of stx1/stx2 and rfbO157 in cultured stools by multiplex PCR, and the additional detection of anti-lipopolysaccharide (anti-LPS) O157, O145, and O121 antibodies by Glyco-iELISA test. In addition, we studied patients' relatives to detect circulating pathogenic strains that could contribute to HUS diagnosis and/or lead to the implementation of measures to prevent dissemination of familial outbreaks. This study describes the diagnosis of 31 HUS patients admitted to Hospital Municipal de Niños Prof Dr Ramón Exeni during the 2017-2020 period.

RESULTS

Stool PCR confirmed the diagnosis of STEC associated with HUS in 38.7% of patients (12/31), while anti-LPS serology did in 88.9% (24/27). In those patients in which both methods were carried out (n = 27), a strong association between the results obtained was found. We found that 30.4% of HUS patients had at least one relative positive for STEC.

CONCLUSIONS

We could identify 96.3% (26/27) of HUS cases as secondary to STEC infections when both methods (genotyping and serology) were used. The results demonstrated a high circulation of STEC in HUS families and the prevalence of the STEC O157 serotype (83%) in our pediatric cohort. A higher-resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information.

Haemolytic uraemic syndrome

Haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) is a heterogeneous group of diseases that result in a common pathology, thrombotic microangiopathy, which is classically characterised by the triad of non-immune microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia, thrombocytopenia, and acute kidney injury. In this Seminar, different causes of HUS are discussed, the most common being Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli HUS. Identifying the underlying thrombotic microangiopathy trigger can be challenging but is imperative if patients are to receive personalised disease-specific treatment. The quintessential example is complement-mediated HUS, which once carried an extremely high mortality but is now treated with anti-complement therapies with excellent long-term outcomes. Unfortunately, the high cost of anti-complement therapies all but precludes their use in low-income countries. For many other forms of HUS, targeted therapies are yet to be identified.

Cognitive Deficits Found in a Pro-inflammatory State are Independent of ERK1/2 Signaling in the Murine Brain Hippocampus Treated with Shiga Toxin 2 from Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli

Shiga toxin 2 (Stx2) from enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) produces hemorrhagic colitis, hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and acute encephalopathy. The mortality rate in HUS increases significantly when the central nervous system (CNS) is involved. Besides, EHEC also releases lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Many reports have described cognitive dysfunctions in HUS patients, the hippocampus being one of the brain areas targeted by EHEC infection. In this context, a translational murine model of encephalopathy was employed to establish the deleterious effects of Stx2 and the contribution of LPS in the hippocampus. The purpose of this work is to elucidate the signaling pathways that may activate the inflammatory processes triggered by Stx2, which produces cognitive alterations at the level of the hippocampus. Results demonstrate that Stx2 produced depression-like behavior, pro-inflammatory cytokine release, and NF-kB activation independent of the ERK1/2 signaling pathway, while co-administration of Stx2 and LPS reduced memory index. On the other hand, LPS activated NF-kB dependent on ERK1/2 signaling pathway. Cotreatment of Stx2 with LPS aggravated the pathologic state, while dexamethasone treatment succeeded in preventing behavioral alterations. Our present work suggests that the use of drugs such as corticosteroids or NF-kB signaling inhibitors may serve as neuroprotectors from EHEC infection.

Flavorubredoxin, a Candidate Trigger Related to Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura: Screening of the Complete Genome of a Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Isolate From an AIDS Case

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is one of the two classic thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) diseases which could be induced by infections. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patient with acquired TTP induced by infection with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (hereafter, S. Typhimurium) isolate, S. Typhimurium_zhang, which was confirmed by serology and genetic taxonomy. The literature review identified 17 TMA-related genes encoding the candidate triggers, which were searched in the annotated genome sequence of S. Typhimurium_zhang. Anaerobic nitric oxide reductase flavorubredoxin (FlRd), encoded by norV which is related to another TMA, haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), was found in S. Typhimurium_zhang. Basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) analysis revealed that norV and FlRd in S. Typhimurium_zhang, as well as eight S. Typhimurium type strains, have high identity with HUS-related Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain TW14359. Similar results were obtained from the BLAST analysis of 73 S. enterica isolates for congenital TTP which was also previously reported to be triggered by S. enterica. Phylogenetic analysis and amino acid sequence alignment revealed that FlRd was functional and highly conservative on 69 Enterobacteriaceae, including S. Typimurium_zhang and TW14359. In brief, we found norV in the genome of a S. Typhimurium clinical isolate that induced TTP in an AIDS patient. FlRd, the protein encoded by norV, probably triggered the TTP and was highly conservative, functional, and widespread in S. enterica and Enterobacteriaceae. More in vitro and in vivo studies are required to confirm our findings and determine the underlying mechanism.