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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 2000, p. 874-876, Vol. 38, No. 2
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Genetic Characterization of Campylobacter
jejuni O:41 Isolates in Relation with Guillain-Barré
Syndrome
Trudy M.
Wassenaar,1,2,3,*
Benjamin N.
Fry,2
Albert J.
Lastovica,1
Jaap A.
Wagenaar,3
Peter J.
Coloe,2 and
Birgitta
Duim3
Department of Medical Microbiology,
University of Cape Town, Observatory, Cape 7925, South
Africa1; Department of Applied Biology & Biotechnology, RMIT University, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia2; and Department of
Bacteriology, Institute for Animal Science and Health
(ID-Lelystad), 8200 AB Lelystad, The Netherlands3
Received 30 June 1999/Returned for modification 23 August
1999/Accepted 13 November 1999
 |
ABSTRACT |
Campylobacter jejuni O:41 strains are found in
association with Guillain-Barré syndrome in South Africa. Strains
of this serotype collected over 17 years were characterized by
amplified fragment length polymorphism and flagellin typing to
determine their clonal nature. Despite minor variation in GM1
expression, all of the strains were genetically indistinguishable,
indicating that they are representative of a genetically stable clone.
| |
TEXT |
Campylobacter jejuni is a
common cause of human gastroenteritis. A correlation between (i)
C. jejuni infection and (ii) Guillain-Barré syndrome
(GBS) and Miller-Fisher syndrome (MFS) has been described; 30% of GBS
or MFS patients have a C. jejuni infection prior to, or
concomitant with, the onset of neurological symptoms (5, 9).
Infections with certain C. jejuni serotypes pose an
increased risk of GBS, especially serotype O:19 (5, 9, 10).
In the Cape Town area of South Africa, C. jejuni strains of
serotype O:41, but not O:19, have been found to be associated with GBS, despite the fact that O:19 strains are detected in stool samples at a
frequency three times higher than that of O:41 (6, 7).
The genetic characterization of serotype O:41 isolates from the Western
Cape area isolated over a period of 17 years was the aim of this
investigation. The isolates (Table 1)
were genetically characterized to determine clonality using amplified
fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) (2) corroborated with
flagellin typing (1). The serotype O:41 strains were
analyzed in combination with the reference strains of serotypes O:1 to
O:10, O:19, and O:41 of the serotyping scheme (12) and with
four clinical isolates of serotype O:19 (Table 1).
The results (Fig. 1) indicate that all 11 isolates of serotype O:41 are genetically indistinguishable by AFLP.
Apparently, all of the O:41 strains examined represent a clonal
population, despite phenotypic variation detected in GM1 expression
(Table 1, data kindly provided by D. Sack [13]). The
clonality of serotype O:41 isolates was corroborated by flagellin
typing (Fig. 2). Interestingly, serotype
O:41 and O:19 strains have the same fla profile. Most other
serostrains produced different fla profiles (Fig. 2; results
for DdeI digestions not shown); however, the profile of O:19
and O:41 is not unique to these two serotypes (T. Wassenaar,
unpublished data).
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FIG. 1.
AFLP analysis using chromosomal DNAs digested with
HindIII and HhaI. The two main clusters
comprise all O:19 isolates and all O:41 isolates, respectively.
Serostrains O:1 to O:10 are included for reference.
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FIG. 2.
Genotyping of C. jejuni strains by flagellin
PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism after digestion with
HinfI. (A) Serostrain O:19 (lane 1), serostrain O:41 (lane
2), and O:41 isolates (lanes 3 to 12). (B) Serostrains O:1 to O:7
(lanes 1 to 7).
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|
Recently, an O:19-specific PCR was developed which differentiates O:19
strains from those of other serotypes (8). We applied this
test to O:41 strains. With adaptation of the method (a primer concentration of 60 nM had to be used to obtain specific PCR products), O:41 strains were classified as non-O:19 by this PCR (results not shown).
The methods of flagellin typing and the O:19-specific PCR could be
applied to type Campylobacter isolates for
Campylobacter-induced GBS risk assessment. However, such
genotyping results should be interpreted with caution since our results
indicate that the O:19-specific PCR would not detect O:41 and the
flagellin genotype of O:19 and O:41 is not unique to these two serogroups.
A clonal relationship of isolates of the same serotype is not a general
feature of Campylobacter, as serogroups O:1, O:2, and O:4
are genetically heterogeneous (3, 11); however, some serogroups, e.g., O:19, appear to be clonal (4, 10). Our results indicate that serogroup O:41 isolates from South Africa are
also clonal and that this serotype has been genetically stable for a
long time.
| |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
This study resulted from visits of T.M.W. to the University of Cape
Town (UCT) supported by the South African Medical Research Council and
the UCT, and to RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, supported by
RMIT and the German Foundation of Hygiene and Microbiology. A.J.L. is
indebted to UCT and the South African Medical Research Council for support.
The support and encouragement of Lafras Steyn of UCT are greatly
appreciated. I. Nachamkin is thanked for providing C. jejuni strain HB93-13.
| |
FOOTNOTES |
*
Corresponding author. Present address: Johannes
Gutenberg University, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene,
Hochhaus am Augustusplatz, 55101 Mainz, Germany. Phone: 49 6131 177341. Fax: 49 6131 392359. E-mail: wassen{at}mail.uni-mainz.de.
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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 2000, p. 874-876, Vol. 38, No. 2
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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