E-Book Overview
A multidisciplinary panel of leading experimentalists details the key protocols for the diagnosis and study of the pathogenesis of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and its isolated cytotoxin (Stx). Described in step-by-step detail, these readily reproducible techniques range from those for the diagnosis and detection of STEC bacteria in patient and animal samples, to those for studying the cellular microbiology of STEC infections, especially host-pathogen interactions and the hemolysin of STEC. There are also protocols for studying the details of Shiga toxin (Stx) biology-from the purification of the toxin to the effects of Stx on various host cell functions-and for exploring STEC-mediated disease in various animal models.
E-Book Content
M E T H O D S I N M O L E C U L A R M E D I C I N E TM
E. coli Shiga Toxin Methods and Protocols Edited by
Dana Philpott Frank Ebel
Humana Press
Medical Significance of STEC Infections
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1 The Medical Significance of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Infections An Overview Mohamed A. Karmali 1. Introduction Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), also referred to as Verocytotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC) (1), are causes of a major, potentially fatal, zoonotic food-borne illness whose clinical spectrum includes nonspecific diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) (2–6). The occurrence of massive outbreaks of STEC infection, especially resulting from the most common serotype, O157:H7, and the risk of developing HUS, the leading cause of acute renal failure in children, make STEC infection a public health problem of serious concern (2,5,7). Up to 40% of the patients with HUS develop long-term renal dysfunction and about 3–5% of patients die during the acute phase of the disease (8–11). There is no specific treatment for HUS, and v