OCCURRENCE OF VIRULENCE-ASSOCIATED PROPERTIES IN ENTEROBACTER-CLOACAE

Enterobacter cloacae is not a primary human pathogen but has been cons idered to be an important cause of nosocomial infections. Even so, the re are almost no reports on its ability to produce recognized virulenc e-associated properties. In this study, we show that most of the E. cl oacae strains examined were resistant to serum bactericidal activity a nd were able to produce aerobactin and mannose-sensitive hemagglutinin , and all of them could adhere to and invade HEp-2 cells. Since E. clo acae is part of the normal intestinal floras of many individuals, we b elieve that infectious disease due to endogenous E. cloacae might be a result of both host predisposing factors and the bacterial virulence determinants that we have detected in this survey.