RESUMO
Sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics are always generated as a consequence of antimicrobial therapy and the effects of such residual products in bacterial morphology are well documented, especially the filamentation generated by beta-lactams. The aim of this study was to investigate some morphological and pathological aspects (virulence factors) of Escherichia coli cultivated under half-minimum inhibitory concentration (1.0 µg/mL) of piperacillin-tazobactam (PTZ sub-MIC). PTZ sub-MIC promoted noticeable changes in the bacterial cells which reach the peak of morphological alterations (filamentation) and complexity at 16 h of antimicrobial exposure. Thereafter the filamentous cells and a control one, not treated with PTZ, were comparatively tested for growth curve; biochemical profile; oxidative stress tolerance; biofilm production and cell hydrophobicity; motility and pathogenicity in vivo. PTZ sub-MIC attenuated the E. coli growth rate, but without changes in carbohydrate fermentation or in traditional biochemical tests. Overall, the treatment of E. coli with sub-MIC of PTZ generated filamentous forms which were accompanied by the inhibition of virulence factors such as the oxidative stress response, biofilm formation, cell surface hydrophobicity, and motility. These results are consistent with the reduced pathogenicity observed for the filamentous E. coli in the murine model of intra-abdominal infection. In other words, the treatment of E. coli with sub-MIC of PTZ suggests a decrease in their virulence.