Abstract
BACKGROUND: Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) is one of the most common bacteria responsible for human gastroenteritis worldwide. The mode of human transmission is foodborne infections due to consumption of contaminated food, especially poultry. Type 6 secretion systems (T6SS) were described recently as Campylobacter virulence mechanisms. Furthermore, infection sequelae associated with neurological disorders like Guillain-Barré (GBS) and Miller Fisher (MF) syndromes can become serious health problems in some patients after Campylobacter gastroenteritis. Our objective was to determine the distribution of these virulence genes among C. jejuni isolated from stool of human diarrhea. METHODS: A total of 524 C. jejuni strains from travelers and pediatric cases of acute diarrhea in Thailand were selected for this study. All isolates belonged to one of 20 known capsule types and all were assayed by PCR for T6SS, a hemolysin co-regulated protein (hcp) gene, and GBS-associated genes (cgtA, cgtB, cstII (HS19) and cstII (HS2) ) which are involved in sialic acid production in the lipooligosaccharide (LOS) cores of C. jejuni. The distribution of these genes are summarized and discussed. RESULTS: Of all isolates with these 20 capsule types identified, 328 (62.6%) were positive for hcp, ranging from 29.2 to 100% among 10 capsule types. The GBS-associated LOS genes were detected among 14 capsule type isolates with 24.4% and 23.3% of C. jejuni isolates possessed either cstII (HS19) or all three genes (cgtA, cgtB and cstII (HS19) ), which were classified as LOS classes A and B whereas 9.2% of C. jejuni isolates possessing cstII (HS2) were classified as LOS class C. The C. jejuni isolates of LOS A, B, and C together accounted for 56.9% of the isolates among 14 different capsule types while 31.1% of all C. jejuni isolates did not possess any GBS-associated genes. No significant difference was detected from C. jejuni isolates possessing GBS-associated LOS genes among travelers and children, but changes between those with hcp were significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested a high diversity of hcp and GBS-associated LOS genes among capsule types of C. jejuni isolated from Thailand.