Detection of fimH gene in Escherichia coli strains isolated from Iraqi diabetic patients with urinary tract infection and determination of its associations with serum cytokine (IL-6 VE IL-8) levels

This study aims to identification of uropathogenic Escherichia coli from diabetic and non-diabetic patients with UTI and to detect of the fimH gene in these strains by molecular methods and to comparison the serum cytokines levels (IL-6 and IL-8) between diabetic and non-diabetic patients diagnosed with UTI caused by Escherichia coli. This study was carried out in Baghdad hospitals during the period between February to July 2022. Urine and blood samples were collected and identification of Escherichia coli in urine samples was done by microbiological and molecular methods, while blood samples were collected to measure IL-6 and IL-8 in these strains. All strains subjected to PCR for detection the presence of uidA gene and to detect the presence of fimH gene. The result of the study showed that Escherichia coli was the most prevalent causative pathogen and fimH gene was detected in all strains diagnosed as Escherichia coli. Also, The results showed that there were statistical differences in the levels of IL-6 among studied groups with means± SD (71.63± 10.69 control group, 100.60±15.47 Non-DM group, 148.70±73.81 DM group)( P value < 0.001). Levels of IL-8 also showed significant differences among studied groups with means± SD (84.10± 11.84 control group, 163.70±22.91 Non-DM group, 216.43±80.28 DM group) (P value < 0.001) .