Pathogenesis of nosocomial infections with Enterococcus faecalis

In this thesis, we analyzed the role of the different virulence factors of E. faecalis known in literature in the pathogenesis of infections. We investigated the prevalence of virulence factors in E. faecalis isolates from different hosts as well as their role in biomaterial related infections. The results showed that the virulence factors cytolysin (hemolysin) and the Asa1 form of the surface protein Agg are involved in infection and the surface protein Esp is associated with colonization. In addition, the surface proteins Agg and Esp play a role in the adhesion to biomaterials. However, another important conclusion from this thesis is that also other factors are involved in the pathogenesis of infection; E. faecalis without any of the virulence factors which are known thus far also caused infections and strains without any of the studied surface proteins adhered to biomaterials