The exoS, exoT, exoU and exoY Virulotypes of the Type 3 Secretion System in Multidrug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a Death Risk Factor in Pediatric Patients

The poor prognosis of infections associated with multidrug-resistant <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> can be attributed to several conditions of the patient and virulence factors of the pathogen, such as the type III secretion system (T3SS), which presents the ability to inject four effectors into the host cell: ExoS, ExoT, ExoU and ExoY. The aim of this study was to analyze the distribution of <i>exo</i> genes through multiplex polymerase chain reaction in <i>P. aeruginosa</i> strains isolated from patients at a third-level pediatric hospital and their relationships with clinical variables, e.g., the origin of the sample, susceptibility profile and outcome, through a multinomial logistic regression model. A total of 336 bacterial strains were obtained from cystic fibrosis (CF; n = 55) and bloodstream infection (BSI; n = 281) samples, and eleven presence (+)/absence (-) <i>exo</i> virulotype patterns were identified. The virulotype V3 (<i>exoU-/exoS+/exoT+/exoY+</i>) was observed in 64.28%, followed by V1 (<i>exoU+/exoS-/exoT+/exoY+</i>) with 11.60%. Additionally, V2 (<i>exoU+/exoS-/exoT+/exoY-</i>) was present in 11.60%, and V7 (<i>exoU-/exoS+/exoT+/exoY-</i>) was present in 4.17%. The remaining virulotypes (8.33%) identified were clustered in the other virulotype (OV) group (V4, V5, V6, V8, V9, V10 and V11). The clinical records of 100 patients and their outcomes were reviewed. Fifteen patients died (CF = 4; BSI = 11). V2 and V1 were the virulotypes most related to pandrug resistance (PDR), whereas the V1 relative risk of death was determined to be almost four-fold greater than that of V3, followed by V2 and OV. In summary, the virulotypes V1, V2 and CF are related to death. This study highlights the association of T3SS virulotypes with the susceptibility profile, clinical origin and their potential for predicting a poor prognosis.