Distribution and Diversity of hmw1A Among Invasive Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Isolates in Iran

BACKGROUND The pathogenesis of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) begins with adhesion to the rhinopharyngeal mucosa. Almost 38-80% of NTHi clinical isolates produce proteins that belong to the High Molecular Weight (HMW) family of adhesins, which are believed to facilitate colonization. METHODS In the present study, the prevalence of hmwA, which encodes the HMW adhesin, was determined for a collection of 32 NTHi isolates. Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) was performed to advance our understanding of hmwA binding sequence diversity. RESULTS The results demonstrated that hmwA was detected in 61% of NTHi isolates. According to RFLP, isolates were divided into three groups. CONCLUSION Based on these observations, it is hypothesized that some strains of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae infect some specific areas more than other parts.