Vaginal Colonization by papG Allele II(+) Escherichia coli Isolates from Pregnant and Nonpregnant Women as Predisposing Factor to Pyelonephritis

Vaginal (61) and fecal (61) Escherichia coli isolates from pregnant and nonpregnant women (18–45 years old) were surveyed for papG alleles by PCR technique. papG allele II was the most prevalent among both vaginal (32.7%) and fecal (3.2%) isolates, whereas other alleles were found only among vaginal isolates (1.6% for alleles I and III and 3.2% for alleles II + III). papG (+) pregnant women's isolates did not differ significantly from those of nonpregnant in possession of papG allele II (90% versus 73.3%), whereas both (32.7%) differed significantly (P ≤ 0.05) in comparison with fecal isolates (3.2%). The vast majority of papG allele II(+) vaginal isolates were clustered in group B2 (81.8%) and much less in group D (18.1%). Also, most of them were positive for fimH (100%), papC (100%), iucC (90.9%), and hly (72.7%), and about half of them were positive for sfa/foc (45.4%). In addition, the mean of VFs' gene possession was 3.5 (range from 2 to 5). It can be concluded that vaginal colonization by papG allele II(+) E. coli is possibly one of the predisposing factors of both pregnant and nonpregnant women to pyelonephritis, but its potential may be modified by other factors especially host factors.