Which of the following agents causing acute infectious diarrhea can be paired with the pathogenic mechanism of enterotoxic, enteropathogenic, enteroinvasive and enterohemorrhagic effects?
High-Yield Explanation
E. coli, a gram negative rod commensal in the gastrointestinal tract, has various pathogenic strains which cause illness on various ways. Enterotoxic E. coli (ETEC) causes the travelers disease; enteropathogenic (enteroadherent) E. coli (EPEC) causes childhood diarrhea, enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC) causes dysentery-like disease, and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) causes hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome in children. Normal individuals become ill when exposed to ceain pathogenic strains. The heat labile toxin of E. coli causes cAMP increase and increased excretion of electrolytes. The heat stable toxin stimulates guanylyl cyclase in the intestinal mucosal cells. Ref: Ray C.G., Ryan K.J. (2010). Chapter 33. Enterobacteriaceae. In C.G. Ray, K.J. Ryan (Eds), Sherris Medical Microbiology, 5e.