Detection of Shiga toxins and its inhibition in Escherichia.coli O157:H7 Strain isolated from water in Mosul city

Section: Research Article
Issue
Vol. 3 No. 2 (2025): Journal of Rafidain Environment July 2025
Published
Oct 6, 2025
Pages
33-48

Abstract

      The current study was conducted with the aim of isolating and diagnosing the strain Escherichia coli O157:H7 from water in the city of Mosul, and studying the possibility of inhibiting its toxin Shiga toxin (STX) using different materials and compounds. for this purpose 55 water samples was collected  (30 Tigris River water, 25 sewage water).


      Isolation and diagnosis results showed that 29 isolates of E.coli O157:H7 strain were obtained using the selective medium Sorbitol MacConkey Agar (SMAC) , distributed over river water (50%) and sewage water (56%). The molecular technique (PCR) polymerase chain reaction was used by adopting the 16srRNA gene to confirm the diagnosis of cultured isolates, the same technique was also used to investigate the genes encoding both types of shiga  toxin, and it was found that the prevalence of the stx2 gene encoding the shiga toxin Stx2 is higher compared to the stx1 gene encoding the shiga toxin Stx1.


      The inhibitory effect on the shiga toxins of the E.coliO157:H7 strain was studied using a group of materials represented by alcoholic plant extracts of mint leaves, pomegranate peels, and natural materials, namely honey, gum arabic, and propolis, in addition to using some essential oils, namely cinnamon oil, watercress seed oil, and gum arabic oil. The inhibitory materials used showed a high inhibitory ability against the growth of the selected isolates.


      The possibility of inhibiting shiga toxins was investigated at the molecular level by investigating the possibility of inhibiting gene expression for the stx1 and stx2 genes, and Quantitative Real Time PCR technology was used for this purpose. The results showed that the alcoholic pomegranate peel extract was able to inhibit gene expression. for the stx1 and stx2 genes by approximately half, with values ranging between 0.35 for the first gene and 0.41 for the second gene, compared to the gene expression of the untreated control samples, while the rest of the studied materials did not affect the inhibition of gene expression.


      The cytotoxicity of the studied shiga toxins was detected on a cell line (normal lymphocytes) for the first time locally using the MTT cytotoxicity assay method. The method succeeded in showing the cytotoxicity of the shiga toxins and confirming the ability of the alcoholic pomegranate peel extract to inhibit the shiga toxins of the studied isolates compared to the control sample without treatment.

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Author

Angham J. Alwan

Identifiers

https://doi.org/10.33899/jre.v3i2.49935
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