Urinary oligosaccharides inhibit adhesion of E. coli onto canine urinary tract epithelium

Canine urine fractions were tested for their capacity to release Escherichia coli from everted canine ureteral segments. Urine was effective in detaching epithelially-bound E. coli; the active principle was a small molecular weight carbohydrate. Treatment with lectins decreased the degree of E. coli surface colonization, which confirms the importance of the mucosal glycocalyx in adhesion. The adhesion-inhibition by the active components may be by competition, which implies that the bacteria-releasing sugars resemble the determinant sugar moieties on the epithelial glycocalyx.