Sensitive and specific detection of enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli using recombinant anti-intimin antibody by immunofluorescence assay

Abstract

The main and common virulence factor expressed by enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) is intimin, a 94-kDa outer membrane protein, which is a product of the eae gene, and, thus, an excellent target for the detection of these pathogens. Among the methods for detection of virulence factor expression, immunoassays can be considered the first alternative to either animal use or in vitro culture cells assays, for which polyclonal and/or monoclonal antibodies are raised. In the present work, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of an intimin recombinant antibody (scFv-intimin) using immunofluorescence assay. The scFv-intimin detected typical EPEC, atypical EPEC, and EHEC isolates (100% sensitivity) with no detection of eae− isolates (100% specificity). Thus, immunofluorescence is an effective and rapid method, and scFv-intimin, an excellent tool for the diagnosis of diarrhea caused by EPEC and EHEC and also can be employed in case–control epidemiological surveys.