Abstract
One hundred and seventy-sevenEscherichia coli strains isolated from food, pigs and humans were tested for the production of heat-labile and heat-stable enterotoxin at 4, 22, and 37 °C. Heat-labile enterotoxin was detected in culture supernatants by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and heat-stable enterotoxin by the infant mouse bioassay. Thirty strains produced heat-labile enterotoxin, and twenty heat-stable enterotoxin. None of the strains isolated from food were enterotoxigenic. Fifty-seven per cent of the human and porcine strains producing heat-labile enterotoxin at 37 °C also produced the toxin at 4 °C. The fact thatEscherichia coli enterotoxin may be present in food at consumption must be considered pathogenetically relevant.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Dupont, H. L., Formal, S. B., Hornic, R. B., Snyder, M. J., Labonati, J. P., Sheahan, D. C., LaBrec, E. H., Kalas, J. P.: Pathogenesis ofEscherichia coli diarrhea. New England Journal of Medicine 1971, 285: 1–9.
Fantasia, L. D., Mestrandrea, L., Schrade, J. P., Yager, J.: Detection and growth of enteropathogenicEscherichia coli in soft ripened cheese. Applied Microbiology 1975, 29: 179–185.
Jiwa, S. F. H., Krovacek, T., Wadström, T.: Enterotoxigenic bacteria in food and water from an Ethiopian community. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 1981, 41: 1010–1019.
Möllby, R., Hansson, N., Brag, H., Danielsson, M.-L., Jonsson, P., Olsson, E., Wadström, T.:Escherichia coli — en patogen hygienindikator i livsmedel? Svensk Veterinärtidning 1978, 30: 271–275.
Rosenberg, M. L., Koplan, J. P., Wachsmuth, I. K., Wells, J. G., Gangarosa, E. J., Guerrant, R. L., Sack, D. A.: Epidemic diarrhea at Crater Lake from enterotoxigenicEscherichia coli. Annals of Internal Medicine 1977, 86: 714–718.
Sack, R. B., Sack, D. A., Mehlman, I. J., Ørskov, F., Ørskov, I.: EnterotoxigenicEscherichia coli isolated from food. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1977, 135: 313–317.
Kapperud, G.: Studies on the pathogenicity ofYersinia enterocolitica andY. enterocolitica-like bacteria. 1. Enterotoxin production at 22 °C and 37 °C by environmental and human isolates from Scandinavia. Acta Pathologica et Microbiologica Scandinvica Section B 1980, 88: 287–291.
Kapperud, G., Langeland, G.: Enterotoxin production at refrigeration temperature byYersinia enterocolitica andY. enterocolitica-like bacteria. Current Microbiology 1981, 5: 119–122.
Yolken, R. H., Greenberg, H. B., Merson, M. H., Sack, R. B., Kapikan, A. L.: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection ofEscherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 1977, 6: 439–444.
Evans, D. G., Evans, D. J., Pierce, N. F.: Differences in the response of rabbit small intestine to heat-labile and heat-stable enterotoxins fromEscherichia coli. Infection and Immunity 1973, 7: 873–880.
Dean, A. G., Ching, Y., Williams, R. G., Harden, L. B.: Test forEscherichia coli enterotoxin using infant mice. Application in a study of diarrhea in children in Honolulu. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1971, 125: 407–411.
Maurer, R. H.: Disc electrophoresis and related techniques of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Walter de Gruyter, New York, 1971, p. 29–31.
Bäck, E., Blomberg, S., Wadström, T.: EnterotoxigenicEscherichia coli in Sweden. Infection 1971, 5: 2–5.
Goldhar, J., Peri, R., Zilberberg, R., Lahav, M.: EnterotoxigenicEscherichia coli (ETEC) isolated in Tel-Aviv (Israel) area. Medical Microbiology and Immunology 1980, 169: 53–61.
Marier, R., Wells, J. G., Swanson, R. C., Calliahan, W., Mehlman, I. J.; An outbreak of enteropathogenicEscherichia coli foodborne disease traced to imported Trench cheese. Lancet 1973, ii: 1376–1378.
Schroeder, S. A., Caldwell, J. R., Veron, T. M., White, P. C., Granger, S. I., Bennett, J. V.: A waterborne outbreak of gastroenteritis in adults associated withEscherichia coli. Lancet 1968, i: 737–740.
Benoki, M.: Perspective on the food poisoning in Japan. In: Fukumi, H., Ohashi, M., Murakami, H., Kudoh, Y., Nakamura, A. (ed.): Gastrointestinal Infections in South-East Asia. III. Food Hygiene in the Problem of Gastrointestinal Infections. Southeast Asian Medical Information Center, Tokyo, 1978, p. 8–14.
Caseman, E. P.: Staphylococcal enterotoxin. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 1965, 28: 124–131.
Skjelkvåle, R., Duncan, C. L.: Enterotoxin formation by different toxigenic types ofClostridium perfringens. Infection and Immunity 1975, 11: 563–575.
Evans, D. G., Satterwhite, T. K., Evans, D. J., Dupont, H. L.: Difference in serological responses and excretion patterns of volunteers challenged with enterotoxigenicEscherichia coli with and without the colonization factor antigen. Infection and Immunity 1978, 19: 883–888.
Isascson, R. E., Fusco, P. C., Brinton, C. C., Moon, H. W.: In vitro adhesion ofEscherichia coli to porcine small intestinal epithelial cells: pili as adhesive factors. Infection and Immunity 1978, 21: 392–397.
Smyth, C. J., Olsson, E., Moncalvo, C., Söderlind, O., Ørskov, F., Ørskov, I.: K99 antigen-positive enterotoxigenicEscherichia coli from piglets with diarrhea in Sweden. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 1981, 13: 252–257.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Olsvik, Ø., Hushovd, O.T., Berdal, B.P. et al. Production of enterotoxin byEscherichia coli at four, twenty-two and thirty-seven degrees centigrade. Eur. J, Clin. Microbiol. 1, 12–16 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02014134
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02014134