P1-antigen-containing avian egg whites as inhibitors of P adhesins among wild-type Escherichia coli strains from patients with urosepsis.

Among 58 Escherichia coli urosepsis isolates, P1-antigen-containing dove and pigeon egg whites were significantly more effective inhibitors of P-adhesin-specific agglutination than were chicken egg whites or globoside. Globoside's inefficacy may have resulted from a proadherence effect of globoside's lipid tail. Adhesin phenotypes determined with dove and pigeon egg whites as as agglutination inhibitors corresponded closely with phenotypes defined by comparative hemagglutination of human P1 and p erythrocytes. These data suggest that avian P1-antigen-containing substances may provide a useful alternative method for P adhesin inhibition among uropathogenic E. coli strains.