Hemagglutination ability and adherence to the Buffalo green monkey kidney cell line of uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Abstract

The hemagglutination ability and adherence capacity to the Buffalo green monkey (BGM) kidney cell line of 160 wild-type strains of Escherichia coli isolated from bacteriuric patients were investigated. It was found that P-fimbriated E. coli strains adhered significantly better to BGM cells than did strains in which P-fimbriae were not detected, which is in accordance with the capacity of P-fimbriated strains to cause unobstructive pyelonephritis and with receptor distribution for P-fimbriae in the urinary tract. The strains which exhibited other adhesions, alone or simultaneously, showed reduced adherence to BGM cells, while non-agglutinating strains, mostly isolated from urine of patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria, did not adhere at all or adhered poorly to the utilized cell line. The BGM cells served as a good experimental model for investigation of uropathogenic E. coli adherence; because these cells originate from the upper urinary tract, they are viable and not coated with Tamm-Horsfall protein.