Escherichia coli strains isolated from the uterus and urinary bladder of bitches suffering from pyometra: comparison by restriction enzyme digestion and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

Pyometra (uterine inflammation with accumulation of pus in the uterus) is regarded as one of the most common illnesses in bitches. The ethiology and pathogenesis are complex with both hormonal and bacterial elements. The bacteria most frequently isolated from the uterine content is Escherichia coli. In this study, 84 E. coli strains from the uteri of 70 bitches suffering from the disease were examined and their DNA-profiles compared by restriction enzyme analysis and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Through variations in DNA-profiles of the E. coli isolates, this study indicates that pyometra is caused by E. coli originating from the normal flora of the dogs and not by certain clones spread between animals.E. coli strains from the urinary bladder and the uterus of six of the bitches suffering from simultaneous urinary tract infection and pyometra were examined and compared as above. The DNA-profiles of the isolates from each of the six bitches were 100% identical. This study supports the theory suggesting that in cases of simultaneous urinary tract infection and E. coli pyometra, the urinary tract and uterus are infected with the same bacterial strain. To evaluate whether the uterus was infected with a single clone of E. coli or if multiple clones were present, eight to 16 colonies of E. coli isolated from pyometra samples from a further 10 bitches were examined. All bacterial colonies from the culture of the same bitch showed identical DNA-profiles. In 14 of the 70 bitches, two macroscopically different but biochemically identical E. coli colony types were isolated. The two colony types from the same bitch proved to have identical DNA-profiles in 13 cases and almost identical in the remaining bitch.