Despite the increasing importance of
Enterococcus as opportunistic pathogens, their virulence factors are still poorly understood. This study determines the frequency of virulence factors in clinical and commensal
Enterococcus isolates from inpatients in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Fifty
Enterococcus isolates were analysed and the presence of the
gelE,
asa1 and
esp genes was determined. Gelatinase activity and biofilm formation were also tested. The clonal relationships among the isolates were evaluated using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The
asa1, gelE and
esp genes were identified in 38%, 60% and 76% of all isolates, respectively. The first two genes were more prevalent in
Enterococcus faecalis
than in
Enterococcus faecium
, as was biofilm formation, which was associated with
gelE and
asa1 genes, but not with the
esp gene. The presence of
gelE and the activity of gelatinase were not fully concordant. No relationship was observed among any virulence factors and specific subclones of
E. faecalis or
E. faecium resistant to vancomycin. In conclusion,
E. faecalis and
E. faecium isolates showed significantly different patterns of virulence determinants. Neither the source of isolation nor the clonal relationship or vancomycin resistance influenced their distribution.
