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Isolation of Single Intracellular Bacterial Communities Generated from a Murine Model of Urinary Tract Infection for Downstream Single-cell Analysis
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Increased human pathogenic potential of Escherichia coli from polymicrobial urinary tract infections in comparison to

Gemma Croxall1, Vivienne Weston2, Susan Joseph1

  • 1Pathogen Research Group, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Lane, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK.

Journal of Medical Microbiology
|October 16, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Current urinary tract infection (UTI) diagnostics miss polymicrobial infections common in the elderly. This study shows Escherichia coli in these mixed samples are more invasive, highlighting a need to reassess standard UTI testing procedures.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Clinical Diagnostics
  • Infectious Diseases

Background:

  • Standard urinary tract infection (UTI) diagnostics often fail to identify polymicrobial infections, especially in elderly patients.
  • Polymicrobial UTIs are prevalent in the elderly, leading to underdiagnosis and undertreatment.
  • Current Health Protection Agency guidelines do not require reporting of samples with three or more bacterial species.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the prevalence of uropathogens in polymicrobial urine samples from elderly patients.
  • To assess antibiotic resistance patterns in these polymicrobial UTIs.
  • To evaluate the invasiveness of Escherichia coli from polymicrobial versus monomicrobial UTI samples.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of mixed culture urine samples from elderly patients.
  • Antibiotic susceptibility testing for common uropathogens.
  • In vitro epithelial cell infection assays to compare E. coli invasiveness.

Main Results:

  • Identified major uropathogenic species in polymicrobial UTI samples.
  • Observed potential increases in resistance to ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim.
  • Demonstrated statistically significant higher invasiveness (P<0.001) of E. coli from polymicrobial samples compared to monomicrobial samples.

Conclusions:

  • The current standard diagnostic procedure for polymicrobial UTIs requires reassessment.
  • E. coli isolated from polymicrobial UTIs exhibit increased invasiveness, posing a potential health risk.
  • Improved diagnostic strategies are needed for polymicrobial UTIs, particularly in the elderly population.

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