%0 Journal Article
%T Correlation between PFGE Groups and mrp/epf/sly Genotypes of Human Streptococcus suis Serotype 2 in Northern Thailand
%A Prasit Tharavichitkul
%A Kanreuthai Wongsawan
%A Naoki Takenami
%A Sumalee Pruksakorn
%A Achara Fongcom
%A Marcelo Gottschalk
%A Banyong Khanthawa
%A Volaluk Supajatura
%A Shinji Takai
%J Journal of Pathogens
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/350416
%X Streptococcus suis infection is a severe zoonotic disease commonly found in Northern Thailand where people often consume raw pork and/or pig¡¯s blood. The most frequent clinical presentations are meningitis, sepsis, and endocarditis with higher rate of mortality and hearing loss sequelae. To clarify the correlation between pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) groups and mrp/epf/sly genotypes of S. suis serotype 2, 62 patient and 4 healthy pig isolates from Northern Thailand were studied. By PFGE analysis, at 66% homology, most human isolates (69.4%) and 1 pig isolate were in group A, whereas 14.5% of human isolates and 3 out of 4 pig isolates were in group D. According to mrp/epf/sly genotypes, 80.6% of human isolates were identified in mrp+epf£¿sly£¿ and only 12.9% were in mrp£¿epf£¿sly+ genotypes; in contrast, 1 and 3 pig isolates were detected in these two genotypes, respectively. Interestingly, all isolates of S. suis serotype 2 classified in PFGE groups A, B, and E were set in mrp+epf£¿sly£¿ genotypes. These data show a close correlation between PFGE groups and mrp/epf/sly genotypes of human S. suis serotype 2. 1. Introduction Streptococcus suis, recognized as a significant swine and human pathogen, mainly causes meningitis, sepsis, endocarditis, and septic shock [1]. It can be transmitted to humans by contact with sick or carrier pigs, pig-derived products [2], or eating undercooked pork [3, 4]. Capsular polysaccharide (CPS) is the most important proven critical virulence factor, due to its antiphagocytosis activity [5]. Of 35 serotypes, serotype 2 is the most frequently isolated and associated with disease in both animals and humans [6]. In addition, virulence-related proteins, such as muramidase-released protein (MRP), extracellular factor (EF), and hemolysin (suilysin, SLY), are expressed by some strains of S. sui ¡°as discussed by Gottschalk and Segura [1].¡± These proteins are encoded by the genes mrp, epf, and sly, respectively. MRP/EF/SLY phenotypes or mrp/epf/sly genotypes of S. suis serotype 2 have been studied mostly in pig isolates with very little data for human isolates [1, 7], especially in Northern Thailand. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of DNA restricted with SmaI has been confirmed to be valuable for evaluating the genetic diversity of S. suis [8]. The present study aims to clarify the correlation between PFGE and mrp/epf/sly genotypes of S. suis serotype 2 isolated from patients in Northern Thailand. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. S. suis Serotype 2 Strains from Humans and Healthy Pigs A total of 66 S. suis serotype 2 (SS2)
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jpath/2014/350416/