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Updated: May 31, 2026

In Vitro Assay of Bacterial Adhesion onto Mammalian Epithelial Cells
Published on: May 16, 2011
Antibiotic resistance and adhesion properties of oral Enterococci associated to dental caries
Bochra Kouidhi1, Tarek Zmantar, Kacem Mahdouani
1Laboratoire d'Analyses, Traitement et Valorisation des Polluants de l'Environnement et des Produits, Université de Monastir, Tunisie. bochrak@yahoo.fr
Background:
Enterococci are increasingly associated with opportunistic infections in Humans but the role of the oral cavity as a reservoir for this species is unclear. This study aimed to explore the carriage rate of Enterococci in the oral cavity of Tunisian children and their antimicrobial susceptibility to a broad range of antibiotics together with their adherence ability to abiotic and biotic surfaces.
Results:
In this study, 17 E. faecalis (27.5%) and 4 E. faecium (6.5%) were detected. The identified strains showed resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Among the 17 isolated E. faecalis, 12 strains (71%) were slime producers and 5 strains were non-producers. Among the 4 E. faecium, 2 strains were slime producers. All the tested strains were able to adhere to at least one of the two tested cell lines. Our result showed that 11 E. faecalis and 2 E. faecium strains adhered strongly to Hep-2 as well as to A549 cells.
Conclusions:
Drugs resistance and strong biofilm production abilities together with a high phenotypic adhesion to host cells are important equipment in E. faecalis and E. faecium which lead to their oral cavity colonization and focal infections.
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